RERAK — Lightweight Folding Table System
Design Design Student → Inventor & Product Designer

I invented RERAK in college to address the need for versatile, sustainable furniture for small spaces and temporary use — think dorms, pop-ups, and compact city apartments. Made from modular corrugated cardboard, it folds flat, weighs under 5 lbs, and holds over 50 — all while being easy to recycle.

Goal
Design a lightweight, collapsible table that looked good, performed well, and is renewable — proving that temporary-use furniture could still be thoughtfully designed and structurally sound.

Execution
I created over 25 iterations using adobe and prototyped them at a corrugated packaging factory (Willy Wonka’s cardboard dreamland). The final design featured modular, flat-cut parts with a unique folded geometry. I self-funded early prototypes and later launched a small but successful Kickstarter to help with patenting costs.

Challenge
Balancing form, weight, and strength was a constant puzzle — especially getting a 5 lb cardboard table to hold 50+ lbs (really more like 100lbs). I also had to validate the idea to skeptics who questioned the material, despite the design being adaptable to plywood, acrylic, or other substrates.

Impact

• 2 U.S. patents (Design + Utility)

• Prototype tested at 10+ pop-ups and events

• Held investor calls and early production conversations

• Successfully self-filed a design patent and secured pro bono utility patent help from UCLA Law

• Learned when to pivot — MOQ and production costs halted commercialization, but the process sharpened my product instincts, IP knowledge, and design resilience
  
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