Issue08 : 22 July 2014

Toy-like wooden products might seem out of place in an office environment, but Pana Objects’ wooden lifestyle accessories and stationery can bring a drab Bangkok office to life.

Small Ville iPhone lightning cable caps

Airplanes, mountains, barns, trees, clouds and even country houses are transformed into tiny protective caps for USB cables. A four-legged reading lamp takes on the form of a small dog. While a stationery tray resembles a Japanese bento set. Each of these are the creations of Pana Objects – a Thai company that turns everyday office furniture and stationery into works of art.

Since the brand was founded in 2012, Pana Objects has created more than a dozen wooden lifestyle products, mainly home decorations, gadget accessories and stationery. All are designed to fit in well with our post-2010 way of life.

“The urban lifestyle since 2010 is all about consumer preferences, social media gadgets and compact home décor,” says production manager Waewyos Sonthichai. “When you understand the nature of your customers, you will know how you can offer them choices.”

Pana Objects is a fresh Thai brand that combines the specific needs of a modern lifestyle with the desire for pop designs. The seven founders met at King Mongkut’s University of Technology Thonburi, where they all studied industrial design. Upon graduation they found it difficult to put their ideas into practice.

“Because we tried to present practical yet cool designs in our wooden products, we couldn’t find any supplier who could do what we wanted,” says director and designer Pattarapong Pornpanapong. “So, we decided to do both the design and the production ourselves.”

Putting the techniques they learnt at university and computer know-how to use, they set about creating their own wooden products at their home-based factory. Throughout they demonstrated their love of wood in the quality of the end product.

“We use 100% solid maple, beech, walnut and ash,” Pornpanapong says citing the masking tape dispenser, Crackie, as just one example. “The quality of the wood makes them appropriate raw materials for lifestyle items and stationery.”

Tofu Set Stationery

Seeing themselves as creators of wooden products that are contemporary art forms with a story to tell, the partners believe their designs will stand the test of time. “They will be some memorable items for those who remember 2010s,” adds Pornpanapong. “And they will still be chic even in the 2060s.”

Sonthichai believes that the current lifestyle product market in Thailand is very different from that in preceding decades. “Customers are now starting to get used to value-added object design products and anticipating different things,” he says.

As such, now it is more important than ever to provide potential purchasers with information about the brand and products via online media channels. This is something for which the team at Pana Objects is well prepared. “As customers start to look for accessories that fit in well with their lifestyles, we will be there offer more choices,” says Sonthichai.

For more information, visit www.pana-objects.com

Words by Phraewphan Puangkasem