How It's Made
The Design Process: From Gesture to Geometry
The Napkin Sketch: Capturing the Spark
Every iconic piece begins with a moment of raw intuition. At Bend, we embrace the "napkin sketch"—those immediate, rough doodles captured when lightning strikes. These sketches aren’t just drawings; they are gestural studies in proportion and line. Whether inspired by the silhouette of a desert plant or the rhythmic bass of a new track, these initial lines represent the soul of the object before the constraints of engineering take hold.
The Creative Waltz: 3D Iteration
Once a concept is born, it enters a rigorous collaborative phase—a "Waltz" between our hand-drawn vision and digital precision. We pass these gestures to our 3D design team to explore the physics of the form.
This is where Nanda’s background in automotive sculpting becomes our greatest asset. We don't just look for a shape that works; we look for the "Aha!" moment where a curve feels both effortless and structurally sound. It is a back-and-forth process of shifting scales, testing tensions, and refining the "art of the bend" until the digital model carries the same energy as the original sketch.
“Inspiration is everywhere: in the geometry of nature, the pulse of a city, or the rhythm of music. It’s like hearing a new beat that forces you to move—it motivates you to dive deeper into the work and push the material until it finds its own rhythm.” — Gaurav Nanda, Founder & Principal Designer
From Digital to Physical: The Cardboard Study
Before a single spark of a welder flies, we bring our digital models into the physical world through full-scale cardboard prototyping. This analog step is vital; it allows us to feel the proportions in a real-world environment. We study how light passes through the wire or how the volume of a Bold Tube frame occupies space. These cardboard mockups inform the final adjustments to ergonomics, scale, and comfort, ensuring that the first metal prototype is as functional as it is sculptural.
The Prototype: Stress-Tested Design
The journey ends with the first metal prototype—the ultimate test of our engineering. This is where the "difficult bends" are finalized. By the time a piece moves from the studio to production, it has been refined through a rigorous cycle of digital and physical testing, resulting in furniture that is built to endure, move, and inspire.
