A jelly-mold lamp, a deliberately puzzling clock, and a priority for function reveal how Sgt. Mags approaches the business of designing things for the home.
Sgt. Mags began with a baby, a 3D printer, and a couple who preferred tinkering after bedtime. Founded by Ram and Diana in November 2024, the homeware studio grew from a postpartum creative project into a collection of lamps, clocks, and vases that give everyday objects a personality of their own. Their designs have a fondness for the unexpected, whether that means a jelly mold-shaped lamp or a clock that makes you work to decipher the time.
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The Shape Of Sgt. Mags
The couple’s daughter, Maggie, inspired their first product, the Stackable Vases, whose modular rings borrow from the logic of her stackable toys. The result is a set that can hold flowers or stand alone as a sculptural object, depending on how much arranging one feels like doing. Parenthood remains part of the studio’s origin story, though Ram and Diana are careful not to make it the entire plot.
“We want to show [Maggie] in the future that a lot of Sgt. Mags was inspired by her. By having Maggie in our life, we got inspired and pushed to do new things,” Ram comments. The “Mags” part of their name actually derives from her own.
How Sgt. Mags Thinks Outside The Mold
Their partnership works because each brings a different sensibility to the table. Ram, who studied business analytics and worked in data science, handles much of the technical design and production. Diana oversees the brand’s aesthetic direction, marketing, and operations. His route to homeware began with geospatial data and three-dimensional visualization, which led him to experiment with 3D printing about five years ago. What started with maps and customized commissions eventually turned into a more open-ended question: what else could he make? Quite a lot, as it turns out.
Objects Of Curiosity
For Ram, 3D printing offers a way to move an idea from screen to shelf without the expense of conventional manufacturing. It allows Sgt. Mags to experiment with unusual shapes and smaller production runs, while offering customers more room for customization. Their appearance at Lots of Local helped confirm that there was an audience for independently designed objects, particularly when visitors began showing interest in the lamps. They found out that, “3D printing allows you to customize things in so many ways. It gives you more room to express your ideas.”
Their products include Jelly Lamp, shaped like a classic jelly mold, which pairs a translucent 3D-printed shade with a jewel-toned center and comes in four colors. The Observatory Desk Clock is designed to be difficult to decipher at a glance. It draws on mid-century color and form while making the act of checking the time a bit less automatic. “We know that when you have a clock, you have your watch, you have your phone. So do we need that clock? What if we made an anti-clock?” Ram shares.
The Art Of Making Do
Ram tends to begin with an object’s practical purpose before working on its appearance, while Diana’s eye helps determine how the final design comes together. He credits her feedback with shaping the studio’s output, and their different approaches give the collection a sense of continuity. Shapes and details recur across products, creating a recognizable visual language without making each new release feel like a sequel nobody asked for. “What gives me the confidence to put stuff out there is when Diana likes it,” Ram muses. “A lot of these designs are the way they are because of her feedback and inspiration.”
Room For Experimentation
More recently, Sgt. Mags has been looking beyond 3D printing, incorporating acrylic, metal, wood, and concrete into its work. The Drift Lamp, made with Krete Manila, pairs a natural white concrete base embedded with scrap capiz shells with a soft shade inspired by the surface of a seashell. Its materials evoke the coast without resorting to the usual beach-house shorthand.
The Recess Lamp, developed with industrial designer Selena Placino, takes its cue from the tic-tac-toe games found on jungle gyms. Its spinnable acrylic pieces invite the hand to get involved, while wood and stainless steel expand the studio’s material vocabulary. The Canopy Lamp, meanwhile, layers hand-shaped acrylic with metal to explore color, depth, and diffused light. Its Cinder and Smoke finishes recall the warmth of the 1980s and the moodier palette of the 1990s, offering a restrained counterpoint to the Jelly Lamp’s exuberance.
For Ram and Diana, collaborations offer a way to work with designers they admire while learning how different materials behave. They see Sgt. Mags as a platform for these exchanges, with 3D printing serving as one tool among many rather than a creative limitation. “We try to avoid just making things for the sake of making things; as much as possible, there’s a bit of a story to it,” they share.
The Long Game
Having worked together since college, the couple has also learned to build a business around the realities of family life. Ram prefers to get things moving, while Diana keeps an eye on timelines and the bigger picture. They’re less interested in expanding for expansion’s sake than in choosing projects they can sustain and enjoy.
After all, the appeal of Sgt. Mags lies in its willingness to give ordinary objects a little more to do. For Ram and Diana, the home is full of opportunities to make familiar things more engaging.
Banner photography by Fern Dy
Frequently Asked Questions
Sgt. Mags is a Filipino homeware studio founded by Ram and Diana in November 2024. It creates lamps, clocks, and vases using 3D printing and other materials.
Sgt. Mags began as a postpartum creative project after Ram and Diana welcomed their daughter, Maggie. The couple worked on designs after putting her to bed, eventually turning their experiments into a homeware business.
Sgt. Mags combines practical functions with playful forms and unexpected details. Its products include a jelly mold-shaped lamp, a deliberately difficult-to-read desk clock, and modular vases inspired by Maggie’s stackable toys.
3D printing allows Sgt. Mags to experiment with unusual shapes, create customized products, and produce designs without the costs associated with conventional manufacturing.
Sgt. Mags collaborated with Krete Manila on the Drift Lamp, which features a concrete base embedded with scrap capiz shells. It also worked with industrial designer Selena Placino on the Recess Lamp, a versatile design inspired by jungle gym tic-tac-toe games.
