HED's Winning Tables for Tots Design

We were thrilled to be able to host the 13th Annual Tables for Tots virtually this year, where we raised $50,000 with the incredible help of our community. We received several design submissions and placed the designs at the San Diego Ronald McDonald House, where families and volunteers could vote. Congratulations to HED, who won this year's Tables in Space Virtual Design Competition! Check out an interview we did with the leader of the design, Alejandro Angeles.

1. What has been your involvement with Tables for Tots over the years? Is this your first time participating, or are you normally in charge of leading HED’s table design efforts in years past?

I was first introduced to Tables for Tots at my last firm (AVRP) and got me hooked. When I came to HED I brought it up and started forming a team. At the beginning, it was just me but as the years went on I slowly brought in more people to help. I really enjoyed building stuff and using my imagination to come up with unique designs.

2. What was the inspiration behind the design?

I was reading to my son one night, and I saw a vehicle toy in the corner of the room and thought that would be a fun piece to bring to life. The design was based on early NASA experimental airplane design and the paint scheme was based on the Bell X1 which is always pushing the boundaries of everything. We also wanted to include a bubble top; we included one in our last Tables for Tots design and all the kids loved it, so we decided to incorporate it into this year's design as well for the top of the vehicle.

3. What was the creative process like?

There were several versions that we sketched and of course we wanted to keep within the parameters of using the table and chairs. We also wanted to make it a piece that we could actually build as well. After the design was settled, we drew it in AutoCAD and exported it into 3D pieces, and added all of the textures/colors from there. A lot of the elements we used were real-life elements. We incorporated carpet, “space rocks” which were rock pillows kids could play with, and just different elements that could spark children’s creativity. We also added an alien just for fun. Based on my kids' experience – they love playing with stuffed animals/plush toys so we made sure those items were added.

4. Did you do the entire design, or was it a group effort?

I came up with the initial concept, but developing the whole design was definitely a group effort.

5. Were you surprised that HED won?

We’ve done it for a few years and we of course love our designs. We love creating pieces kids love and use their imagination with. This year everything fell into place – we made sure to start early, reached out to our network we’ve worked within the past projects to create a unique piece, and were very hopeful to win.

6. Anything else you’d like to share with regards to this?

I have a personal experience with the Ronald McDonald house – my son had bronchitis when he was young and we stayed at the RMD House during it. We know this event makes a big impact on the families at the house and that’s why I’ve been so involved these past few years.

We had so much fun with this project. It’s been great to grow a team of people I can rely on and count on to help every year. HED is growing a lot and I’m looking forward to following years for more team members to do help design new projects