TapiKat Coasters

Overview

The original TapiKat began as an exploration of how an everyday physical object could become an interactive gateway into a digital experience. I conceived, designed, and produced a collection of custom physical coasters embedded with NFC technology, allowing a simple tap from a smartphone to instantly connect the user to digital content. I developed the concept from the ground up—from product design, branding, visual artwork, and physical fabrication to the NFC interaction model and supporting web experiences—creating a product where the technology remained largely invisible until the moment of interaction. More importantly, the project established the physical-to-digital design philosophy that would ultimately become central to TapiKat. Rather than treating the coaster and website as separate products, I designed them as a single connected experience: the physical object provided presence, permanence, and identity, while NFC extended that object into an evolving digital layer. The project combined product design, UX/UI, web development, NFC technology, digital fabrication, and hands-on production into one integrated system—an early example of my approach to designing experiences that deliberately blur the boundary between physical products and software.