Imagine you are a struggling young product designer living in Tokyo. You know you’re talented but you have not yet found an outlet. So to make ends meet you go to work in a retail store that sells exceptionally well-designed furniture, including an American brand called Offi. One day your boss asks what you do outside of work, and you show him one of your designs.

It is called the Zumi Stool and your name is Shuichiro Koizumi, and without quite knowing it yet, you’ve just made your first step towards huge success. Shuichiro’s boss took his design to the company he buys his furniture from and asks if they will make it for him. Of course Offi immediately recognizes the brilliance of the design and thinks it would be beautiful in plywood.

Not only do they manufacture it for the Tokyo store, but for fifty other independent design shops across the United States. But it was in Shuichiro’s hometown of Tokyo where it was the biggest hit. Now all of his friends can buy the three identical interlocking pieces, quickly assemble them, and take a seat. Pretty nifty. (via Follow Function)