Design Stories

Design is the core of Grovemade. We design every product we sell, and each has a unique story of how it came to life, from concept to prototype to launch.
DESIGN STORY

Designing the Studio Pad

The Studio Pad took us on quite a design journey, from debates about container design theory to the challenges of creating a minimal stand that's over three feet long. Come behind the scenes and get to know the latest addition to our workspace lineup a little better.
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DESIGN STORY

Designing the Desk

It took a coordinated effort that spanned years—come behind the scenes with our design team and read the story of how we designed our desk.
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DESIGN STORY

15 Years of Design

A lot has happened since 2009. We've launched hundreds of products, learning and growing from each success and failure. Join us as we look back on a decade and a half of product design.
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DESIGN STORY

Designing the New Laptop Riser

Our original laptop riser was great—but we were running into major quality control and manufacturing issues. Here’s how we solved the problems and designed a new version of the laptop riser.
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DESIGN STORY

Design Talk: Apple Vision Pro

Join us as we talk about the Apple Vision Pro—from the industrial design heritage to adding tools to your workflow arsenal.
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DESIGN STORY

Designing the Headphone Stand

We designed our headphone stand in 2019—it's become a classic part of the collection since then. Come behind the scenes with our design team to read how it came to life.
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DESIGN STORY

Designing the XL Desk Shelf

The desk shelf system is our classic workspace solution—we originally designed it in 2017, but we're always thinking about it, always playing with ways to improve it. Here we talk through our decision to go for the gusto and design the desk shelf, XL.
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DESIGN STORY

Designing the MX Keys Keyboard Tray

For the last two years, we've been working closely with our good friend Matthew Encina to design the Note-Taking Kit. Follow along as we tell the story of how this product came to life.
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DESIGN STORY

Designing the Note-Taking Kit

For the last two years, we've been working closely with our good friend Matthew Encina to design the Note-Taking Kit. Follow along as we tell the story of how this product came to life.
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DESIGN STORY

Designing the Grovemade X Blackwing Pencil Kit

In 2021 we teamed up with Blackwing to co-design a pencil storage product. Like any good synergy, the result was something bigger: a sweet pencil caddy, new friends, and a whole lot of basketball metaphors.
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DESIGN STORY

Designing the iPad Stand

We’d seen enough iPads resting on flat surfaces. It was time to elevate it, for your iPad and your posture! Here’s how we designed a stand we love.
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DESIGN STORY

Redesigning the MacBook Dock

We launched our first MacBook dock in 2015—it's a crucial piece of the office-scape for many people. As we matured, we realized it deserved a redesign. Read on to learn why we did it and how it happened.
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DESIGN STORY

Unboxing the M2 MacBook Air

It’s time to unbox the MacBook Air M2. Come along for the ride as Nick finds out Ken and Sean’s design take.
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DESIGN STORY

Unboxing the MX Keys Mechanical

We brought the new MX Keys Mechanical keyboard into our design space for a review. Follow along with Sean, Ken and Nick as they proclaim opinions on Logitech’s design choices—from keycap layout to material highlights, and compare it to the rest of the MX Keys and Apple Magic lineup.
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DESIGN STORY

Designing the Notepad

The reusable Grovemade notepad is an essential piece of our desk collection—but it took a happy coincidence between researching notebook sizes and dissatisfaction with disposable notepads to bring it to life.
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DESIGN STORY

Unboxing the Mac Studio

We brought the sleek new Mac studio M1 Max and Studio display into our shop to meet our design team and our products.
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DESIGN STORY

Redesigning the Mouse Pad

Grovemade’s original desk collection was born in 2014. In the last few years, we’ve redesigned the desk tray, keyboard tray, wrist rest, and desk shelf, but one was missing: the mouse pad. The time had come to redesign it, and here’s what we did...
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DESIGN STORY

The New Desk Shelf

It had been four years since we launched the original desk shelf. It was time to update. Read on to learn how we totally redesigned the new desk shelf system—more storage, more sizes, more possibilities.
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DESIGN STORY

Design Review: AirPods Max

We brought the AirPods Max into the design room to talk industrial design in the audio space. Our CEO and co-founder, Ken Tomita, and lead designer Sean Kelly take the headphones for a spin and share their thoughts.
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DESIGN STORY

Designing the MagSafe Stand

When Apple launched the MagSafe iPhone charger, we knew we had to make a stand for it, as fast as we possibly could. Here’s how we did it.
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DESIGN STORY

Working on an iPad

Five years ago, our lead designer Sean got his first iPad Pro—it's become an integral element in his product design toolkit. He recently upgraded to the new M1 iPad pro, so we sat down to unbox the iPad and talk about design (Apple's and Grovemade's), work, and creativity.
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DESIGN STORY

Unboxing the New iMac

We brought the colorful new iMac into our shop to meet our design team and our products—in person! I caught up with Ken Tomita, our CEO and co-founder, and Sean Kelly, our lead designer, and we took the new iMac for an unboxing spin.
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DESIGN STORY

Redesigning the Desk Tray

We designed our first tray in 2017 with the launch of the desk shelf. By 2020 it was time for a refresh.
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DESIGN STORY

Redesigning the Pen Pot and Planter

On a Saturday in 2014, a man walked into an empty woodshop with the goal of making Something Cool. The man was Ken, and the Something Cool was the original Grovemade planter. Six years later, our one-man design department had grown into an entire design team, and it was time to breathe new cool into the planter and pen pot collection.
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DESIGN STORY

The New iMac

The new 24" iMacs are a radical, colorful splash from Apple, and it got our design team excited to geek out on the details—the good, the bad, the "chin"—and talk about how it might impact future Grovemade product design.
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DESIGN STORY

Designing The Task Knife

We set out to design a cutting tool for your desk—not a tactical fixed blade that can cut through anything, but something that would look elegant on display while being an effective tool for opening boxes, and other light duty desk tasks.
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DESIGN STORY

Designing the Pen

We dipped our toes into designing a pen back in 2015, but didn’t feel it fit with our lineup at the time. Fast forward to the launch of the Desk Shelf and a new focus on the workspace.
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DESIGN STORY

Designing the Wall Shelf

How did we design the Grovemade Wall Shelf? We started with the materials we know and love, added time and thoughtfulness and then plumbed our souls to see what we should make.
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DESIGN STORY

Designing the Measure Collection

Most rulers are punched flat from sheet metal. It’s efficient and inexpensive—a flat ruler measures well and helps you draw straight lines. Functionally, you’re kinda all set. But we wanted our measuring tools to stand out.
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DESIGN STORY

Designing the Wireless Charging Pad

When Apple announced that their newest phones would be compatible with Qi wireless charging, we started thinking about designing a charging pad for them. We felt that the new iPhones deserved a well designed, high quality wireless charging pad.
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DESIGN STORY

Designing the Desk Shelf System - Part Two

Back in the design studio after cruising all over Portland to look at workspaces, Ken and Sean worked to create a complete system for your desk.
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DESIGN STORY

Designing the Desk Shelf System - Part One

It had been four years since we’d launched our original desk collection. It was time to take the next step and add to the collection.
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DESIGN STORY

Designing The Belt

The winding path that took us from 2015 to 2017 saw us start with a wild initial prototype, enter a long hibernation period filled with other projects, and come back, reinvigorated, for a second deep dive into the design process...
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DESIGN STORY

Designing The Laptop Stand

The Grovemade Monitor Stand is one of our favorite and most popular products to date, but many of us here are laptop users. While we love the ergonomic and organizational benefits while using our iMacs, we wanted to extend those perks to the laptop...
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DESIGN STORY

Designing The Bifold Wallet

The Bi-fold Wallet took a longer journey to create than we could ever have imagined. Luckily for us, we enjoy the struggle just as much as the destination. This is that story.
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DESIGN STORY

Designing The Minimalist Wallet

The Grovemade Minimalist Wallet, part of the Every Day Carry (EDC) collection, was designed for simplicity and ease of use...
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DESIGN STORY

Designing The Desk Collection

The spark came in 2013, when Ken and Joe made a trip to San Francisco and toured the newly finished headquarters of lodging-service giant Airbnb...
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DESIGN STORY

Designing The Key Ring

What was the inspiration for our key ring? It all started with the desire to create a collection of products that go in your pocket.
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DESIGN STORY

Designing The Catch-All

The catch-all was initially conceived as a kind of shelf. We found, though, that a single ledge was limited in functionality. We wanted something that was more practical, able to both showcase and store our everyday essentials while integrating seamlessly into the home...
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DESIGN STORY

Designing The Wood Speaker

We discussed everything from portable, wireless bluetooth-speakers to multi-speaker systems with subwoofers. Ultimately, we decided to make a timeless system that would avoid the digital bells and whistles of the consumer electronics arms race...
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DESIGN STORY

Designing The Wood Watch 02

As with all of our designs, the Wood Watch 02 started with the people on our team, and took us on a challenging and rewarding journey.
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