Karthic Rathinam crafts DIY furnishings, sculptures, and decor from cardboard

When Karthic Rathinam — then a third-year product design pupil in Pune — moved out of his hostel into an unfurnished studio condominium, he determined to construct his personal furnishings. “I experimented with wood, and steel, but with little money left after spending on basic living expenses, I couldn’t afford to build things with those materials,” he says, including how cardboard containers that held his belongings took his fancy. “That’s when it hit me. Why not try building with cardboard? I built a bed, table, chair, and shelves out of cardboard and ended up using them for six months.” 

This acquired Karthic finding out cardboard’s construction, limitations, and prospects. In 2021, Karthic designed a cardboard-based sanitizer stand that went viral on WhatsApp. “I sold over 80,000 units initially that were deployed at Metro stations in Delhi,” says the designer, who went on to arrange his agency, Out of the Box, the identical 12 months. 

Now based mostly in Chennai, Karthic started with eight merchandise together with a desk, desk lamp, stool, laptop computer stand, tabletop desk organiser, shelving choices. Today, the 26-year-old and his workforce have branched into packaging and sculptures. They additionally conduct workshops in design faculties and faculties.

A snapshot of Karthic’s former workplace in Gujarat
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He explains how they use high-strength corrugated cardboard sourced from particular companions. “It’s not the same cardboard that you will find in your regular parcel boxes,” he clarifies, “It’s triple-layered, very strong corrugated boards. Our furniture is designed to be lightweight yet structurally strong, and entirely adhesive-free. All pieces are DIY and use the interlocking technique. Imagine IKEA, but for cardboard,” says Karthic, including how the fabric’s versatile nature makes it splendid for non permanent installations resembling film units, exhibition stalls, and so forth. 

The stool can maintain as much as 300 kgs
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Their stool, as an example, can maintain a weight of 300 kilograms. “How do we know this? We made six people stand atop it,” he shares. With in-depth analysis, the workforce has managed to eradicate odour, enhance aesthetic with color printing, and make the merchandise water- and oil-resistant. “It’s not waterproof, but definitely water-resistant. Also, we are not claiming it will last you a lifetime, It will last you for a good two years, and maybe more if maintained better,” affirms Karthic. “The products are fully recyclable. You can give them to your paper mart vendors. Even if you decide to trash them, cardboard finds a way back to you in another format.”

An set up at Australian Consulate, Chennai
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Over the final three years, these cardboard choices have taken the flowery of not simply college students and designers, however company purchasers as nicely. “We’ve had clients for the sanitiser stands from South Africa, Dubai and London. One of the biggest highlights was when a South African client licensed our design to distribute across 54 countries. Since cardboard has the capability to get branded or printed, we can custom products too,” says Karthic, whose Anna Nagar workplace has been utilizing cardboard furnishings for the final two years. “Even Startup TN [a State government initiative] has a small corner with cardboard furniture which people use on a day-to-day basis,” says the designer who has additionally designed life-size sculptures for occasions resembling Madras Art Weekend and Echoes of the Earth. 

The merchandise are lightweight, water and oil-resistant
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Addressing challenges confronted in sustaining sustainability whereas scaling up, Karthic says that the largest was logistics. “At one point, shipping cost more than production. Also, while our material is sustainable, ensuring quality, strength, and water resistance at scale needs intense R&D. The lack of strong design protection laws in India has also made it difficult to prevent copycats, which hurts original creators,” he explains.

Products by Out of the Box
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Special Arrangement

As for limitations with cardboard merchandise that he goals at addressing, the designer says engaged on making them fire-resistant is on precedence. “Secondly, many still underestimate cardboard’s strength. We’re working on more demo videos to change that, alongside scaling for global markets,” says Karthic, who’s now taking a look at ‘smart’ cardboard merchandise that combine tech and tactile components resembling various textures, interactive displays, and a line of cardboard sculptures “that blend art with function”. “I am also building a cardboard house where I can stay, and I am hopeful that this project will be an example for others to create cost-effective temporary structures such as security cabins, makeshift homes on construction sites, etc,” he concludes. 

Details on outofthebox.sale/