FREDERIK SMAL Back to independent work
Independent / family project · Product design

TV Stand: something we built together

A TV stand co-designed with my father and built by him as a full-scale wooden prototype: an easel for a screen instead of a canvas.

Type
Independent / family project
Role
Product design, form & proportions
Built by
My father, full-scale wooden prototype
Focus
Form, stability, real-world testing
01

Something calm, almost sculptural

We wanted something calm and almost sculptural, not another black box on a shelf. The idea borrows from an easel: a tripod base, a simple spine, and two arms that hold the screen the way an easel holds a canvas.

Decision

Treat the TV like a picture, not a box.

Why

An easel already solves the problem of holding something flat, upright and adjustable. We wanted to borrow that logic instead of defaulting to a conventional stand.

Wooden TV stand prototype, co-designed with my father, tripod base and easel arms, empty

The first iteration: a tripod base, a simple spine, and two arms built to hold a screen like an easel holds a canvas.

02

Testing it for real

This was our first iteration, and my father built it full-scale in wood rather than starting from a render. That let us test the three things that actually matter: proportions, stability in a real room, and feedback from actually living with it.

None of that shows up on a screen. A tripod base either feels solid when someone brushes past it or it doesn't, and the arms are either at the right height for a real room or they're not.

Skills this shows

Product designForm developmentPrototypingCollaborative design

The joinery holding it together: dowels, brass fittings and a spine built to be tested, not just looked at. Click to enlarge.

Wooden TV stand prototype holding a Philips TV in a room corner

The prototype in use, holding a real screen in a real room, which is the only test that actually matters.

03

What's next

We later developed a second, more minimal version, and I'm helping my father shape this into a small side practice alongside his day job. It's still early, but it's a good problem to have: figuring out how to turn something we enjoyed building together into something other people might actually want.

Have something worth building?

I'm interested in senior product, product design and hybrid leadership roles.

Get in touch