Corrugated out of the Box Designs

by Rich Lindgren, CPP
Chainalytics





I recently came across this article on Fast Company about an entrepreneur who has a kickstarter campaign going for his new "Cardboard" standing desk.  Before we go too much further, let's just clarify, this is desk is made of corrugated board, not cardboard.  Not sure on the difference, check out one of earlier blogs here.

Interestingly enough, Zach Rotholz, the designer behind this standing desk actually has a retail store in New Haven, CT called Chairigami where he designs and sells all sorts of furniture from corrugated.  Chairigami produces everything from beds to chaise lounges and now has expanded to manufacture both office furniture and trade show booths for a national audience.   All of the pieces are hand-made and produced in his small cardboard carpentry style store.

Corrugated Standing Desk

 The paper based furniture ends up being relatively inexpensive, very light to transport and move, plus completely recyclable when you are finished with it.  The featured standing desk is said to weigh less then 15lbs, strong enough to support 300 lbs on the top surface, assembled by customer in a matter of minutes without any tools, fastener or adhesives and last 4 years in a normal working environment and all that at a price point of $65.

One of the main pitches is why would you spend several hundred dollars on a new standing desk only to find out that you really don't like it.  Ironically, the other most cost effective option for "trying" the standing desk out would be just to find some old corrugated boxes and set them on your current desk.

Distribution Packaging for Standing Desk

I think one of the best advantages of this design is his actual distribution or shipping package, which is a single parcel ready flat pack, very similar to stuff you get at IKEA, but much lighter making it fairly economical to ship and expand his market reach. It's pretty amazing to think of all the cool furniture I could have made with some of the secondary packaging shipper boxes I regularly get from Amazon.com

The other fun advantage is that these are fully customizable with simple box knives or markers and if you don't like it, pretty easy to replace or fix.  Just keep these desks away from water, corrugated and moisture don't get along, kind of like the Movie Gremlins from the 80's.  Not sure if this is take over home furnishings for the majority of households, but I could see a nice niche for small apartments or student housing.  But I think the biggest market might be for trade shows.

Don't be surprised if you see our Chainalytics design team working on some new corrugated furniture designs for our upcoming trade shows!