We make absolutely everything from cardboard

Yes, that's right! We really do make everything out of cardboard. At least, we try! Every now and then, we receive requests that we could make out of cardboard, but that are just a little bit out of our league. I'm Jan and I work on most of the custom projects at KarTent. Today, I'll take you through the choices we make: why do we tackle some projects and not others?

Possibly, but maybe not

Some projects sound fantastic, but in practice they turn out to be a bridge too far. A request that immediately comes to mind: a disinfection room for shopping carts, in the middle of the corona period. At the time, we took on every assignment with both hands, but this one turned out not to be entirely suitable for cardboard. The idea? A cabinet in which shopping carts could be disinfected, that could be placed outside, was vandal-proof and could be sent by post. Cardboard is great, but downpours and vandalism-proof? Still a challenge too much. With a heavy heart, we ultimately recommended MDF.

We like this!

What really excites me as a designer are the seemingly impossible assignments. I recently received a request for a glass box . For a moment I thought it was a glass block (did it have to be transparent too?!), but luckily I read it again before I pressed 'send'. This project is still ongoing, but the idea is to replace heavy, steel glass boxes with cardboard versions for smaller quantities. One less return transport means less emissions, and that makes us happy!

Can I also get it printed? Or in a different format?

Yes, that is certainly possible! Corrugated cardboard is not always easy to print, but honeycomb cardboard, for example, is. Sometimes we adapt an existing product, such as our standing table or laptop stand, so that it is better printable. And a different size? No problem! We adapt everything to your wishes.

Can it be bigger? Really really big? And stay upright? And in the wind? And outside?

For Worldstream, a major sponsor of the Amstel Gold Race, we made a gigantic cardboard logo: 5 meters wide, 2 meters high . And yes, it had to be outside. Should be possible, right?

In order to keep the logo transportable, we made it in five separate parts, which could be slid together with wooden slats. These slats immediately ensured that the whole thing remained upright. Exciting, because each part was 10 cm thick and the total weight came to about 70 kilos . Cardboard, but in XXL format!

And now what?

During my graduation I designed a cardboard beach house – an idea that eventually led to KarTent. How cool would it be to actually realize that? I still remember how unachievable it seemed at the time, until the assignment for a modular beach house came along. While I opened a package, I thought: can this be done with cardboard? Maybe not… or maybe?

Do you have a challenge for us? We would love to think along with you!