From Nothing to Something: A Journey Beyond Design

One challenge has been to build relationships in the furniture industry as it takes time to build trust, especially when the other person comes from a different country and culture. Many furniture brands are family-owned companies, and even their craftsmen have been there for so many years that they are also considered part of our family. My experience has been that to start a project with such a company, especially if you are not from their country or even their continent, it helps to show your sincerity by visiting them in person to build the friendship and trust organically. Genuine relationships take time and effort to foster, so patience is key. I suppose this applies to any business as well.


If I am genuinely interested in designing for a particular furniture brand, I would definitely invest my time and see where it takes me, even if this is a difficult and long process which requires a commitment to frequent travelling and bearing the costs as such. Time and money have to be invested without guarantees of an outcome. However for me, I always see it as a friendship first above anything else, and I do enjoy meeting new people and building long-lasting friendships. Therefore even if in the end I do not end up working with the company, I view it as a learning experience anyway, because when you visit these factories, you learn about their history, methods and strategic direction. And at the end of the day, a friendship gained is worth it to me.

Yes, when I first started Gabriel Tan Studio, it was quite difficult as I had to take whichever projects came my way. The first was to design an Indian saree shop and the second was a nail spa. Both clients had very limited budgets and were recommended by family and friends out of goodwill to help me get started. We spent a lot of time on the designs but both clients decided to shelve their projects after they saw the contractor’s quote. In the end, they paid for the design service to compensate for our time but did not proceed to execute the projects due to cost considerations. Those were my first two projects and I was really eager to see them built, so when it did not happen, I felt very disappointed. We had spent nine years building Out of Stock, and it was not easy for me to start all over again, but thankfully I did not give up and the Studio has only continued to grow since then.

We actually never officially separated or shut down, but it was a unanimous decision to focus on our individual practices in the near term as each of us was interested to pursue different aspects of design at that juncture. When the opportunity arises, we can reunite to work on a project together in the future. We are all still good friends who keep in close contact with each other.

One of the highlights of my career is definitely art directing the Ariake brand. Ariake was a very satisfying project because they were my first furniture client after I started. I first met these two Japanese furniture manufacturers—Legnatec and Hirata Chair—in 2016 at the IFFS (International Furniture Fair Singapore), shortly after I started my studio. The owners had wanted to export to Singapore because it is nearby, and it is an affluent city. But the prices of their furniture were much higher than all the other stands around them, so while there was interest in their products, there were limited sales at the fair.

After some time, I was asked to design a collection for Legnatec and Hirata Chair, to show at the IFFS in 2017. I was invited to visit the factory at my own expense, so I bought a ticket to Japan and visited their factory in Morodomi, Saga Prefecture. The two companies—one makes chairs, and the other one makes cabinets and tables—always share a stand at furniture shows. The factories are in an agricultural area with some nice landscapes. Morodomi is not the most well-known place but I felt that there was a potential to create an interesting story. So I suggested that instead of just commissioning me to design for both existing companies, we could create a new brand together. I convinced them that we could do something much bigger, where instead of only my designs, I could invite other famous designers, graphic and branding teams, a photographer, to create a new brand with an aesthetic that would appeal globally and become respected in the design world. That was how Ariake was born.

Ariake was launched at IFFS in the first year with moderate success, showing designs from a few other designers I had invited like Keiji Ashizawa, Staffan Holm, and Anderssen & Voll, alongside myself.

I then persuaded Ariake to do a second collection. We conducted our second workshop in Japan at the end of 2016 to develop a new collection for 2017. This time I invited Norm Architects, Shin Azumi, and a few other designers to attend the workshop and brainstorm together with the factories to create a larger collection. During the workshop, the European designers persuaded the owners to bring the collection to the Stockholm Furniture Fair, as it would be good exposure for the new brand. After a few drinks, the owners agreed, with the constraint that they did not want to spend too much on exhibiting. Hence it was our task to search for a free venue. Through our contacts, we found a beautiful townhouse apartment that was waiting to be renovated and in the midst of being gutted out, so the owner kindly agreed to let Ariake show there. It was tiring to set up a furniture exhibition in a space that was full of construction rubble with no lights, but thankfully our efforts paid off massively. The exhibition was a success even though we could not publicise it, as the owner did not want us to broadcast his address. Hence we marketed it by word-of-mouth as a “secret exhibition”. So many people were curious and spread the word, such that we had a wonderful turnout.

Ariake started to gain a strong following after the exhibition in Stockholm, and for the third collection, we decided to return to Stockholm again. This time around, we rented a space within a beautiful church. The space itself was very charming and many people came to the exhibition just to see the space, and how the furniture and the space complemented each other. In our latest exhibition, we chose to show at the National Archives of Sweden—a venue much bigger and grander than the previous exhibition. It is encouraging to everyone in the Ariake project to witness the brand growing, having bigger budgets and government support to grow and take bigger decisions. In this biggest show that we have done, I played a part in inviting Le Klint lighting, 2016/Arita ceramics from Japan, and Friends and Founders from Denmark to collaborate in exhibiting. This show happened just before the Covid-19 pandemic, so that was a high point for me, where we really saw the fruits of building up a brand over three years. It is something that really grew from nothing to something, so that was really an amazing feeling.

Around 15.

The vase, called Aer, that I did with Menu recently was quite difficult. They wanted a very sculptural glass vase, inspired by Scandinavian tradition. Of course, the Alvar Aalto vase was one of the key references. They said, ‘’We want something to be as iconic as this, but it has to be different. It has to be a new interpretation of the Aalto vase, but with the Menu DNA and something that looks current.’’ It was challenging to design a vase that could be just as good or even better than Alvar Aalto’s vase, and at the same time, have an organic and liquid light quality. For this project, we worked a lot with 3D modelling in order to make the mould negative for the glassblowers to blow in. In terms of modelling skills, we had to push our studio to the limit—how do you model something that looks like water? It's not so easy. In the end, the product has been very successful commercially and my client Menu is very happy.

Coming to Portugal the first time years ago, I had visited this cork factory, and I knew instantly that I wanted to work with this material someday. Cork is a very green material, as it can be recycled from used wine cork stoppers and turned into products, like moulded products or flat sheets, which can be cut to make panels and other things. I came up with the idea of using this cork material as acoustic panels. Conventionally, acoustic panels are usually made with moulded felt or upholstered, so they are difficult to clean. Also, it is not easy to cut these felt panels, and you need to work with standard modules. Hence if you need your acoustic wall end-to-end, you will tend to end up with a white border around your wall.

I met up with Peter Jiseborn, the CEO of Abstracta, a Swedish brand specialising in acoustic materials and proposed to them to use this cork material as acoustic panels. I took him to visit the factory in Portugal and showed him the panel I designed. I named the product Sahara as they are inspired by sand dunes, and you can rotate the direction of each panel. I am glad to say that now this factory produces my designs and Abstracta does the distribution and marketing under their brand.

In order to design products that are sustainable, or use new materials that are sustainable, the only way is to visit more factories and to learn about how they do things. These production factories are usually not design companies. You don't usually see beautiful products at their factories, but you can learn about how they process raw materials into finished products. Then, it is up to you to imagine the possibilities available via their processes, skills and technology. For me, sustainability is not an afterthought. Before I start designing, I consider sustainability aspects such as the material chosen, before I have any form in mind. When I visit a factory that has sustainable practices, I would view them as a starting point to begin my work, then perhaps later on I could find the right brand to partner with this factory to carry the product. I see my role as helping the factories because they get a new customer and can make more sales, and on the other hand, I am also helping the brand to come up with a new product that they might not already have.

Yes. For example, the Aer Vase would not be possible without 3D printing. It also made the development time very much shorter. Same for the Sahara Panels. We had to do a lot of 3D modelling to get that exact shape. Then from there, they make the mould and do the injection moulding. Even with Origin, when we do sand-casting, we use a 3D printer to make the mould positive, it speeds up the product development so much. In the past, you have to find a model maker to carve the shape you want out of wood, or out of some material to make them mould positive, and you will not even get the exact shape you want, it takes so much more time.

Yes. But you lose a bit of human touch too, because in the past, after you sketch something, you go to a 3D modeller, and he will carve it out. You will have to communicate with him (often in person) to adjust the carves. The experience is much more tactile—it will not be perfect but that is also the beauty. With technology, you can make things more perfect in a more efficient manner. So there is a good side, but at the same time, something is lost too. That is why for Origin, we create products that are handmade as well. For some of our ceramic products, every single piece is slightly different because the potter is actually throwing on the wheel with his hands, and there is beauty in that. Beauty is sometimes lost when everything is perfect and identical.

I’ve known Mark Yong of Verotec for a number of years, and we've been good friends. He was sharing with me about a slow rebound door handle mechanism that he was developing, a dampening mechanical system which works such that when you depress the handle, it will rebound slowly and silently. We understood that this mechanism was not widespread yet. I suggested to him to create a door handle brand with beautiful designs and utilizing this slow rebound technology. We could challenge the incumbents like Olivari and Kawajun, who are the few design-driven door handle brands. There are probably less than five brands globally who are doing designer handles, so competition wise, it is very small compared to furniture. Of course, Mark could just develop the mechanism as an OEM and offer it as a technology to other brands. But I felt strongly that we should develop our own designs and eventually, the OEM option would still be available, like how Tesla is making batteries for General Motors. Mark was convinced. I managed to invite Snohetta, Marcio Kogan, Neri & Hu, Norm Architects, and other famous designers to come on board to work on a series of door handles. A lot of time was invested in getting these designers to trust a new brand from Singapore and to come on board.

I would love to work on a design-centric hotel where I can design every aspect of it—the furniture, the lighting, down to the cutlery, cups and plates, where everything is bespoke and customised for the hotel. I could design some of the items and curate and invite other designers as well. It would be like a pure bespoke experience, as opposed to hotels which just purchase furniture available on the market.

Young furniture designers need to find their own path. Some people might want to focus purely on furniture design and not diversify, that’s also fine. There are many people who have done that successfully. There is no formula that can be duplicated, because in the end, the journey is about understanding yourself. My first 9 years with Out of Stock was a lot about working with partners. It was very fun, and I enjoyed the camaraderie working with my peers to build something together. But at the same time, during those years, I was trying to understand my personal direction and what I value more, because sometimes, in a collective, you work on projects that the team decides, instead of your own choice. But having said that, when you are young and inexperienced, it is helpful to try different things to know what you like and what you are good at. Gaining a broad based experience in the beginning is necessary—be it working for other people, or just taking on different types of challenges and getting out of your comfort zone.