Manifest Side Table by Chris Vincent from australia

Manifest Side Table is a clever side table that incorporates USB charging for multiple electronic devices. Three USB ports – contained in cavities that also include a cord tidy feature – enable convenient charging (just plug in your iPhone cable or other), with cables tucked cleanly away and left ready to access when required.

The term ‘manifest’ means ‘clearly apparent’ or ‘obvious’. In summary, I approached this design as a problem solving exercise, and the solution was clearly apparent to me.

The concept for the manifest side table arose from a problem that has arisen in many homes as the number of electronic devices proliferates. Many households are home to multiple electronic devices – mobile phones, tablets, e-readers and so on – which often require a daily charge. As the number of devices has increased, the result tends to be the creation of arbitrary charging ‘areas’ within houses – eg a tangle of cables beside the couch or bed, or a bunch of chargers grouped wherever there is a powerpoint.

Clearly, the pace of development of electronic devices has outstripped the development of products to manage them. We have so many mobile devices, and yet it become clear to me that furniture has been slow to adapt. I was curious as to why this has been the case. I was also curious as to how I could execute a design that solved the problem of conveniently charging multiple electronic devices, while maintaining a clean, contemporary and desirable aesthetic.

USB charging was the obvious choice as part of the solution. The USB port has become a standard to enable mobile devices to connect to computers – and so utilising USB charging made sense.

It was important this product provided a neat solution to charging devices – ie incorporation of cable management to enable cables to be ‘tidied’ away. This also had to be done in a way that didn’t scream, “I’m a charging station!” In other words, it was important the design stood up in its own right, and didn’t rely on the charging feature to become a desirable product.

The result is a contemporary object that provides a clean solution to charging devices. Daily charging no longer becomes an exercise of ‘where are the powerpoints’, and ‘how many chargers can I fit on the power board’. Rather, place the table in a convenient position – next to a couch or bed – stow your cables and charge when required.

Material choice has been of relative high quality to achieve a desired aesthetic, while processes used enable the potential for mass production. The table top is solid American white oak timber (cheaper alternatives would be readily available). The charging cavities are covered by brass sliding lids, topped with 3mm wool felt, which acts as a surface protector. The legs are steel tube, which have been CNC bent and welded, then powdercoated. There is a steel plate connected to the underside of the table top, to house the low voltage wiring that connects the USB charging ports. A cable runs through the central leg and out through a timber grommet. This cable runs to a converter box, where the low voltage current is converted to 240V, and ends in a standard wall plug.