Background
In the Dragon Age series, the Grey Wardens are an ancient and mysterious group of warriors dedicated to combating and preventing the Blight, a catastrophe instigated by an ancient evil being known as the Archdemon.
The Grey Wardens' origin dates back to the first Blight, around -395 in the Dragon Age timeline. A group of brave warriors united to fight against the darkspawn, a cursed breed of beings living underground and attacking the surface world under the influence of the Archdemon.
Challenge
The main challenge was in getting two small but critical details right. The Dragon Age lettering on the top had a complex cutout structure that could not be reproduced directly through laser cutting, as some parts of the letters would become disconnected after cutting. We needed to find a way to preserve the original design while still achieving a clean and complete result.
The hanging rod also required careful consideration. Since the customer would need to assemble it themselves, the connection between the rod and the lotus-shaped end pieces had to be strong enough to withstand assembly, while still being simple and intuitive to put together. The connecting parts were relatively thin, so choosing the wrong material or connection method could easily cause them to crack or break during assembly.
What I did
I worked closely with the factory through multiple rounds of testing, focusing on both the connection mechanism and material selection.
For the hanging rod, we eventually developed a pin-based connection system. The rod and lotus-shaped ends were made from beech wood, while bamboo pins were used to connect them. Bamboo provided enough hardness for a secure connection, while the natural expansion of beech helped the two materials grip each other firmly. We also tested and adjusted the insertion depth of the pins to achieve a balance between stability and easy assembly.
For the Dragon Age lettering, I worked directly with the factory workers to find a practical alternative to laser cutting. We ultimately decided to apply the individual lettering pieces by hand. Although this added considerable manual work, it allowed us to preserve the original font design and achieve a clean final result.
Outcome
The product quickly proved its market appeal, with pre-orders exceeding the initial order quantity before production was even completed. Despite a relatively high retail price of $65 per piece, demand remained strong enough that we had to restock after the initial production run sold out.
