# Designing Play: How Rémi Bigot Built Bitpong and a Creative Hardware Studio in Berlin Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/why-design-7007437/designing-play-how-r-mi-bigot-built-bitpong-and-a-creative-hardware-studio-in-berlin Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/why-design-7007437/designing-play-how-r-mi-bigot-built-bitpong-and-a-creative-hardware-studio-in-berlin.md Podcast: [WHY DESIGN?](https://stenobird.com/podcast/why-design-7007437) Published: 2025-12-03T06:00:00+00:00 Episode link: https://why-design.captivate.fm/episode/designing-play-how-remi-bigot-built-bitpong-and-a-creative-hardware-studio-in-berlin Audio file: https://episodes.captivate.fm/episode/70bd09bf-5a81-4a2f-b600-892ebe7c8071.mp3 Processing state: not_requested JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/why-design-7007437/episodes/designing-play-how-r-mi-bigot-built-bitpong-and-a-creative-hardware-studio-in-berlin Duration seconds: 3481 ## Resource What do furniture exhibitions, glowing tables, and digital design have in common?  For Rémi, founder of Diplik, they’re all stops on a creative journey that ultimately led to Bitpong; a tech-enhanced, interactive ping-pong table that feels equal parts sport, art installation, and arcade.  From early ambitions in car design to studying industrial design in northern France, to guest lecturing and building his own hardware studio in Berlin, Rémi’s story is a reminder that creative careers rarely move in straight lines. Bitpong didn’t emerge from a sudden idea. It came from years of exploring where technology meets physical experience.  In this episode of Why Design, host Chris Whyte sits down with Rémi to explore the realities of building a hardware product in 2025, the compromises that shape every designer, and why the best ideas still begin with curiosity.    Don’t just listen. Go beyond the podcast.  Join the Why Design community → teamkodu.com/events    💡 What You’ll Learn   🎨 Why design often begins as a “compromise” between art and engineering  💡 How a single furniture exhibition changed the trajectory of Rémi’s career  🎮 The design story behind Bitpong and what makes playful products so hard to build  🏓 Why running a small hardware company requires resilience, iteration and long-term thinking  🧰 The role of cross-functional collaboration in bringing interactive products to life    💬 Memorable Quotes   “Design became the bridge between engineering and creativity, the compromise that made sense.”  “You need inspiring things early on. A drill doesn’t make you want to become a designer.”  “When I say I studied design, what I really mean is I found a way to mix creativity, technolo… ## Actions - request_transcript: `POST https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/why-design-7007437/episodes/designing-play-how-r-mi-bigot-built-bitpong-and-a-creative-hardware-studio-in-berlin/transcription-requests` — Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode. - read_markdown: `GET https://stenobird.com/podcast/why-design-7007437/designing-play-how-r-mi-bigot-built-bitpong-and-a-creative-hardware-studio-in-berlin.md` — Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource. A page view does not enqueue transcription. Agents should invoke `request_transcript` explicitly when they need this episode processed. ## Transcript Full transcripts are not published on public pages unless there is a clear rights basis.