ABOUT US
Our Story
Our Story
Love for design, sustainability, and the smell of wood from Tierra de Pinares
Born in Madrid in 2012, Woodendot is the result of combining love for design, sustainability, and the smell of wood from Tierra de Pinares with the restless spirit of a pair of young Spanish designers, Daniel García Sánchez and Maria José Vargas.
At Woodendot we design versatile and sustainable furniture and accessories crafted to create warm, distinctive and timeless spaces using wood as our main material, a material that brings our dreams to life.
We combine the know-how of master wood craftsmen with the most innovative design proposals. The result is a product with personality, built with a sustainable mindset and a timeless concept.
The beginning of an idea, RIZO folding screen
In 2010 the economic environment of Spain wasn’t promising, young designers from all areas of expertise were having trouble entering the industry for which they have been preparing for years.
This was not the exception for Daniel and Maria, who met in university for industrial design and in their late twenties realized their career looked very different to what they’ve imagined.
With the curiosity of what could happen if they started experimenting and the intention of creating something to apply as independent designers for small award ceremonies, the first design was born: a folding screen called RIZO.
RIZO surprised them with the first prize for the Habitat Awards Extremadura 2010/11 and that was when Daniel and Maria realized that their work as a team of designers was promising and wanted to go for more. It was here when everything began, even though they didn’t realize it until much later.
In 2010 the economic environment of Spain wasn’t promising, young designers from all areas of expertise were having trouble entering the industry for which they have been preparing for years.
This was not the exception for Daniel and Maria, who met in university for industrial design and in their late twenties realized their career looked very different to what they’ve imagined.
With the curiosity of what could happen if they started experimenting and the intention of creating something to apply as independent designers for small award ceremonies, the first design was born: a folding screen called RIZO.
RIZO surprised them with the first prize for the Habitat Awards Extremadura 2010/11 and that was when Daniel and Maria realized that their work as a team of designers was promising and wanted to go for more. It was here when everything began, even though they didn’t realize it until much later.
RIZO folding screen
RIZO foldign screen size proportion
Habitat Awards flyer
Daniel and Maria in 2010.
The birth of Woodendot, Ka lamp
In 2011, and after RIZO won the award, Daniel and Maria started sketching the first draft of what could be a business or brand of some sort. For months they looked for a name while they started to design what would be the first official Woodendot product: the Ka XL Lamp.
The prototype was made in a semi-handcrafted way, solving problems as they arrived with the help of family and friends, and around the town of Iscar and Daniel’s knowledge of wood. It was challenging to make a product that was stable, resistant, and minimal; but after lots of tests and prototypes, it became a functional lamp that could be presented.
After this the challenges continued, they needed photographs, a website, a marketing strategy and lots of other things that they hadn’t thought about before. The first pictures were taken in their 50 sqm apartment in the center of Madrid, the website was made through trial and error on the weekends when they weren’t working, and finally, after everything was completed the one-product web was published and ready to run.
The meaning of Woodendot
Our name is an allegory to the Spanish expression “punto de” meaning “a pinch of” something…in this case a pinch of wood. When taking the literal translation of the expression “punto de madera” the result is Woodendot.
First Woodendot logo in 2012
First product sold!
With all ready they sent the product to design press worldwide in the hopes of being featured, and to their surprise, this worked very well bringing lots of web visits and press publications to their design.
After a couple of weeks, on December 9 of 2012 it happened: that first Ka XL Lamp was sold. Daniel was at basketball practice when he received a Paypal notification meaning that the lamp was officially sold! This product that they’ve worked for months to introduce to the market was now officially going to someone’s home in Finland!
Immediately after receiving the notification, Daniel called Maria Jose who was at home cooking dinner, he started exclaiming and repeating “No te lo vas a creer! Que funciona!” (You won’t believe it! It works!). Their first reaction was to look up the shipping address on Google Maps to watch the street view and make everything more real.
The shock lasted several minutes until they became aware of something, that there was no real product, just a really-good prototype. There wasn’t a production plan, packaging or logistics to how they were going to produce this lamp and ship it to the other side of Europe, but the only thing clear was that it was going to happen.
Daniel working on Ka lamp's first prototype
Ka lamp vegan leather tray
Wood canes prototyping
First Ka Lamp ever sold
The real start of the journey
For a pair of industrial designers, the design part was challenging but doable. However, the real challenge started when the need of a real brand that produced furniture arrived. They were inexperienced in creating a business, logistics, production, pricing, profit margins, suppliers, and basically everything else apart from design.
In a small town like Iscar, it was not easy for these old craftsmen to believe that someone’s son was being serious about creating products, even fewer products that looked so different from what they usually did.
The journey started and with it lots of weekends were spent with family and friends trying to make this brand a reality, finishing products, taking pictures, figuring out logistics, and in the end, it worked out.
The first Ka XL lamp arrived in Finland (a month later), it was well-received and with no issues on its way.
The first collection continued expanding with the introduction of Ka M and Ka S. Completing a set of three minimal lamps to upgrade the illumination ambiance of any space.
Today
After it began, it never stopped. Daniel and Maria continued to prototype, design, and create new products that aligned with their beliefs while they figured out how to introduce other essential elements to the brand.
The design evolved to be more sustainable and easy to repair, creating products that could have a second life, with double functionality, and finally products that brought personality to any room.
In 2022, Woodendot celebrated its 10th anniversary with thousands of products sold and recognition of our design worldwide.
After it began, it never stopped. Daniel and Maria continued to prototype, design, and create new products that aligned with their beliefs while they figured out how to introduce other essential elements to the brand.
The design evolved to be more sustainable and easy to repair, creating products that could have a second life, with double functionality, and finally products that brought personality to any room.
In 2022, Woodendot celebrated its 10th anniversary with thousands of products sold and recognition of our design worldwide.
2012-2022
Woodendot has completely transformed our lives and shifted the meaning of designing for the better.
We are beyond proud and thankful to have been invited inside the houses of so many individuals and we hope to have transformed their lives too.