Packaging

Sharpening innovation: The Makers Cabinet story of Hvels and heirloom tools

Wednesday 04. September 2024 - In 2017, three university friends turned a simple frustration into a pioneering business venture. Dissatisfied with the subpar performance of conventional pencil sharpeners, they took matters into their own hands, leveraging 3D printing technology to create a refined prototype.

Noah Bier, co-founder of Makers Cabinet, discusses how their journey began with a quest for better-designed tools and evolved into a mission to redefine industry standards.
Their innovative approach and successful Kickstarter campaign allowed them to fulfil pre-orders with a modest investment from their student loans. This initial triumph revealed a significant market demand for high-quality stationery, setting the foundation for what would become Makers Cabinet—a brand committed to elevating everyday tools through exceptional design.
With Makers Cabinet, UK-based Odin Ardagh, Benjamin Weininger, and Noah Bier, aimed to create a durable line of products for architects, artists, and designers. Remarkably, they achieved this while studying product design at Central Saint Martins, launching their first product to rave reviews in 2017 and graduating amidst the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.
Crafting Heirloom-Quality Tools
Starting a business often involves identifying a common problem and devising a creative solution. Makers Cabinet exemplifies this entrepreneurial spirit, transforming dissatisfaction with everyday tools into an opportunity for innovation. Their journey underscores the value of perseverance, adaptability, and community engagement in building a successful enterprise. By focusing on sustainability and longevity, they address a niche market and challenge broader industry practices. Their commitment to creating heirloom-quality tools reflects a wider ambition to redefine industry standards and deliver lasting value to their customers. Through their story, Makers Cabinet inspires aspiring entrepreneurs to look closely at everyday inconveniences, harness their creativity, and embark on their paths to innovation.
“It started with two of my friends at university,” Noah Bier told London Packaging Week. “They wanted to create a pencil sharpener because the existing ones were pretty shoddy. They also wanted to see what would happen if they designed a product as a fun exercise. So, they designed a product using 3D printers during their free hours at uni. With that, they got a prototype, which was used to create a marketing video. They used that video to get pre-orders for the product. They launched a broader Kickstarter campaign for the pencil sharpener, which raised about £25K. They spent about £750 on their student loans and fulfilled all their orders. They enjoyed the process and noticed a gap in the market for high-quality stationery products. That’s when I got involved, helping with the shipping, and we realised there was potential to release more high-quality stationery products.”
Through its brand, Makers Cabinet is redefining industry standards by prioritising quality over quantity, producing products in lower volumes to maintain exceptional craftsmanship. It sells directly to consumers, ensuring a personal connection and eliminating the middleman. Its commitment to sustainability is evident with their lifetime guarantee on all products, the use of FSC-certified wood, and fully recyclable packaging.
Since its inception, Makers Cabinet has introduced three standout products. Dissatisfied with conventional pencil sharpeners, it launched the solid-brass Høvel tool on Kickstarter in 2017, surpassing its funding goal by 200%. Building on this success, it introduced the Iris circle drawing tool in 2019 with an initial goal of $33,000, ultimately raising $242,000 and receiving enthusiastic acclaim from various outlets. The Iris, inspired by a camera’s aperture, emerged from feedback that rotary compasses lacked innovation and ease of use.
Another notable product is the Stria, a pocket-friendly folding ruler made from solid brass or steel. Beyond its timeless design and functionality, the Stria features a haptic click mechanism that signals when the arm is positioned at 45, 90, and 135 degrees, offering precision and a satisfying tactile experience. Through these innovations, Makers Cabinet continues to set a new bar for high-quality, thoughtfully designed stationery.
“Launching through Kickstarter was a really good method without needing a lot of capital upfront,” added Bier. “We decided to design high-quality products that would last a lifetime or more, using materials like solid brass and steel. That’s how we started in 2017.
“Initially, we faced difficulties finding suppliers to manufacture the products. We hoped to produce them in the UK but couldn’t find a suitable supplier that met our cost or quality requirements. So, we turned to Alibaba to find a supplier. Although this was probably a rookie mistake, we did find one who initially made good-quality products. However, we quickly realised it wasn’t a long-term solution. We had to find a more reliable supplier, which we did through a sourcing agent who now helps us find manufacturers.
“After we ran the Kickstarter campaign, making sales was also challenging because we had a small brand name. We went to trade shows and got feedback that the products were too expensive and needed a range of products to get into retail. Despite our efforts, we didn’t have much success in retail. So, we set up our website and decided to build our products, including our second product, the Iris, which became our hero product.
“Our current biggest challenge is achieving consistent direct-to-consumer sales. Since spring 2021, making the same sales we achieved in previous years has been hard. This is due to changes in online advertising, difficulty tracking behaviour online, and the highly competitive online market. So, our initial problems were suppliers and wholesale, and now it’s achieving consistent D2C sales through online marketing.”
As amateur photographers, the Makers Cabinet team observed that camera apertures are remarkably reliable mechanisms, and it was surprising to them that these had not been adapted for other uses. Inspired by this observation, they designed the Iris to bring the same quality and precision to the desk.
The Iris is built to last, with rings machined from solid brass that will develop a distinctive patina, reflecting its enduring craftsmanship. The 20 intricately designed leaves are stamped from carefully selected stainless spring steel, chosen for its durability and resistance to wear from ink and graphite. Diameter measurements are laser-etched onto the brass ring at one-millimetre intervals, with a red dot marking the scale, paying homage to the camera lens design. A fine rubber footprint keeps the instrument firmly in place on the drawing surface to ensure stability and precision.
The Iris also comes with a wooden base that supports and displays the instrument, and functions as a tool for locating the centre of a circle. Users can easily find the centre point by placing the base on its side within the outer ring of the Iris. This approach reflects the Makers Cabinet philosophy of creating products that are functional and made to last, combining time-honoured materials with modern design to deliver exceptional longevity and performance.
Building a Lasting Legacy
Engaging the community in the creative process is central to Makers Cabinet’s approach. The team, driven by passion and a shared vision, creates products they would love to use, fostering a deep connection with consumers. This relationship, cultivated through Kickstarter campaigns and active social media interaction, allows supporters to be integral to the development journey. By seeking feedback and incorporating suggestions directly from their community, Makers Cabinet ensures that its designs are innovative and precisely tailored to their users’ needs and desires.
“The designers, my business partner and I do this for fun. We’re essentially creating our dream products, items we want and would use ourselves,” Bier continued. “We have a very close-knit community built on the back of our Kickstarter campaigns. We ask them for feedback and advice, and whenever we complete a campaign, we ask them what they want us to do next. More often than not, we end up creating something that had been requested. Throughout the design process, we show our designs to these supporters for their feedback, making it iterative. We keep them very much involved.
“Our use of social media also provides a platform where they can easily reach out to us and share their feedback. We avoid doing what many competitors do, such as manufacturing products without engaging with the end users. While our competitors might manufacture at a much larger scale, they don’t engage with their customers the same way we do, influencing the quality and relevance of what we make.”
Reflecting on their journey, Bier recalls a time when their ambitions were modest, hoping merely to gain some traction or perhaps enjoy a brief holiday from their university studies. Starting in 2017, their venture faced numerous challenges, including disruptions from the COVID-19 pandemic, but it also provided an unexpected opportunity to focus on their business and achieve remarkable success.
Today, they aim to disrupt the stationery industry by crafting heirloom-quality products that stand the test of time and resonate with their commitment to meaningful design.
“We felt we were in the right place at the right time,” he added. “Luckily, our business caught the attention of Generation Z. As digital natives, being online and doing social media came naturally to us. The traditional routes of designing a product, launching it through distributors, and trade shows were unfamiliar to us, so we launched the business with very little funding and built a community along the way.
“We had no idea we’d be here today. We’ve had amazing opportunities, working with brands like The Royal Mint and designing products for them. We’ve also collaborated with Blackwing, a leading design company worldwide. I would have said no, if you had asked me seven years ago if we expected to be here now. If you asked the distributors and people we met at the trade show we almost attended six-and-a-half years ago, they would have laughed at our product, thinking it would never sell.
“Now, we’ve sold tens of thousands of products and have customers worldwide. I think we’ve managed to prove them wrong. We have a great story of taking opportunities and building this from very little.
“When my business partner and I think about the objects that have given us the most joy, they aren’t necessarily new. They’re often things passed down from family members and homes. We want to make future heirlooms that harken back to when products were made better. In line with that, we had an experience during a university trip to one of the world’s biggest manufacturers of fridges, freezers, and kettles. We sat down with the design team to discuss their innovations, and they proudly showed us a refrigerator connected to the Internet so you could watch Netflix on it. We thought this was insane and not what the world needs right now. We left that meeting feeling that companies should change towards a circular design system, making products designed to last, be repaired, and made from sustainable materials rather than focusing on gimmicks like putting Netflix inside a fridge.
“We dream that one day we might produce a fridge or something similar, but for now, in stationery, we share that experience and aim to disrupt the whole industry. We intend to do this by making things that last, are beautiful, and can eventually be passed on. This approach fits much closer in line with the circular economy than what currently exists on the market today.”
At London Packaging Week’s panel discussion, “Brands to Watch: Businesses Blowing Up in 2025,” Noah will offer invaluable insights into how independent brands can leverage packaging to enhance their customer experience. As part of a distinguished group of emerging luxury brands, he will share his expertise on how Makers Cabinet’s commitment to exceptional design and sustainability is reflected in its packaging choices.
Packaging extends far beyond mere protection when it comes to products designed to last; it becomes an integral part of the overall experience. The initial encounter with a product, often shaped by its packaging, can significantly influence a consumer’s first impression and emotional response. This understanding drives Makers Cabinet’s meticulous approach to packaging design. Each package is crafted to safeguard the high-quality products and enhance the customer’s experience from the moment of unboxing.
“Everything we design is made from materials intended to last forever, and everything that may be disposed of is easily or widely recyclable,” said Bier. This includes all our packaging, even the stickers on the boxes. Our consumable parts, such as our pencils or blades, are made from natural materials that are entirely raw, so they can be easily recycled once finished.
“From a packaging perspective, my advice would be to consider the entire life cycle of the product and its packaging. It would help to consider where the packaging is made, where the materials come from, and how to get the product to the customer safely and beautifully. Once it captivates them, think about what will happen to the packaging. Is it something that gets kept, or is it recycled? If it’s recycled, ensure it’s done in a way that continues to benefit the customer, perhaps by turning it into something else or making sure it’s easily recyclable and doesn’t end up in a landfill. It’s essential to consider the life cycle from start to finish and every touchpoint with the packaging.”
As Makers Cabinet looks to the future, it is poised to expand their innovative approach beyond its current drawing and writing tools. The team envisions a broader product lineup that extends its design philosophy and embraces new categories, including electronic desk accessories. This strategic move aims to appeal to a wider audience, including designers, artists, and professionals across various fields, while deepening its engagement with the circular economy.
He added: “We want to continue expanding our range of drawing and writing tools, as we want to apply our design philosophy to many more types of products. We’re also working on electronic products that still sit on your desk but move beyond just drawing and writing tools. This will allow us to enter a much wider market, reaching designers, artists, and architects and exploring the sector economy more deeply.
“We’re designing these new products with the same principles of durability and sustainability as our current offerings. Every part is carefully considered to ensure it fits within a circular economy. This means designing components that the user can replace or repair safely and enjoyably. So, while expanding our range, we’re also exploring new areas and innovating within them.”
Their commitment to durability and sustainability remains at the core of their design ethos. Each new product is being developed meticulously to ensure that it aligns with its principles of longevity and environmental responsibility. By focusing on components that can be replaced or repaired by users, Makers Cabinet continues to push the boundaries of traditional product design. As it innovates and explores new markets, its goal is to create tools that embody the same high standards of quality and sustainability that have defined its brand from the start.