Desks start tidy and slowly fill with stacks of printouts, notebooks, sketchpads, and loose sheets. The half-hearted attempts to tame it with file folders and trays end up closed, stacked, and forgotten in a corner or drawer. Most filing systems are great at hiding things but not so great at keeping the work you are actually doing visible and ready, which means you either let the surface turn into chaos or you bury everything and lose track.
Tab is a desk organizer that rethinks the file through form, material, and use. It is made from a single folded sheet of metal, forming a self-standing sleeve that holds papers, books, sketches, and everyday tools in one continuous, open structure. Instead of zips, lids, or clasps, it borrows the logic of a folder but leaves everything accessible from the top and side, removing the need for hiding or closing.
Designer: Rithik Ravi
Sitting down to work with a few active projects, the current book, notebook, and reference prints slide into Tab, standing upright instead of spreading across the surface. When you switch tasks, you reach into the same place, pull out what you need, and drop it back when you are done. The organizer becomes a physical “now” stack that keeps the desk clear without burying anything in a drawer you will forget to check.
The open, continuous form changes behavior in small ways. Because there is no lid to open or box to slide out, grabbing a sketch or document feels as low-friction as picking something up off the table, which means you are more likely to put it back when you are done. The metal walls keep everything aligned and upright, so even a handful of items feels ordered rather than precarious.
The choice of a single folded metal sheet keeps the object visually quiet and structurally clear. There are no visible joints or added parts, just a few decisive bends that create the base, back, and front. The minimal geometry and solid color let it sit quietly on a desk, acting as a calm backdrop for whatever you place inside, rather than adding another fussy object to the mix.
Tab is not meant to swallow an entire archive. Its narrow footprint and single compartment work best when you treat it as a home for active work, not everything you own. Overfilling it would defeat the point, and people who need strict separation between projects might want more than one. But that constraint is also what keeps it from turning into another overstuffed in-tray that never gets emptied.
Tab turns a familiar storage object into a purposeful everyday design. By keeping active work visible and immediately accessible, it nudges you toward a simple rhythm of organizing, selecting, and returning without much thought. A single folded sheet of metal, shaped with the right intent, can do more for focus and clarity than a whole stack of labeled folders ever did, especially when those folders are closed and stacked somewhere you stopped looking six weeks ago.
