popsticks turns everyday tableware into portable inflatable chopsticks inspired by 1990s design.

Iñaki Laguardia October 9, 2026 3 min

Some ideas begin with a serious problem. Popsticks begins with the possibility of finding yourself without chopsticks, which is apparently enough to justify a little design intervention. Created by designer Liam de la Bedoyere, the playful concept proposes a pair of inflatable chopsticks that can be rolled up, slipped into a pocket, and brought out when dinner calls. Instead of folding through hinges or coming apart into smaller pieces, the utensils rely on air to take shape.

The concept is as straightforward as it is unexpected. Each stick can be rolled into a compact spiral when deflated, then inflated into an elongated utensil ready for an unlikely chopstick emergency. The translucent blue forms resemble miniature pool inflatables, bringing a certain familiarity to an otherwise unusual object. Images of the concept show the chopsticks both rolled up and in use, illustrating a simple transformation that makes the act of preparing for dinner part of the experience.

The idea emerged from Productober, an Instagram-based creative challenge that invites designers to respond to different prompts. For the theme ‘Inflatable,’ de la Bedoyere decided to go beyond the usual sketch and develop his proposal in three dimensions. The result explores how an ordinary dining utensil might be reconsidered through a material behavior more commonly associated with beach toys, temporary furniture, and objects that tend to disappear into storage once the fun is over.

The visual language draws directly from the inflatable furniture of the 1990s, which the designer remembers from his childhood. While CAD and KeyShot are part of his usual workflow, he turned to Vizcom to help capture the translucent appearance of those nostalgic objects. This gives Popsticks a deliberately familiar aesthetic, somewhere between a functional accessory and a miniature inflatable novelty. The design takes something as rigid and conventional as a pair of chopsticks and imagines what happens when softness becomes its defining feature.

As it turns out, preparing for improbable situations is something of a recurring interest for de la Bedoyere. ‘This isn’t my first emergency product idea. About ten years ago, I created the Emergency Moustache, so I’m always thinking about the next unnecessary emergency to prepare for,’ the designer tells designboom. Popsticks follows that same line of thinking, treating a minor everyday inconvenience as an opportunity to experiment with how familiar objects might look, behave, and travel differently.

For now, Popsticks remains a concept rather than a commercially available product, leaving questions about materials, rigidity, and everyday usability unanswered. Yet its appeal lies less in solving a pressing culinary problem than in challenging the expectations attached to ordinary objects. A utensil that spends most of its time rolled up in a pocket and only takes shape when needed offers a playful alternative to conventional tableware. Whether or not inflatable chopsticks ever become a dinner essential, de la Bedoyere has found a way to make preparing for a meal a little more entertaining.

project info:

name: Popsticks

designer: Liam de la Bedoyere, Bored Eye Design | @bored_eye_design