Tampa artist connects businesses to real-world whimsy with Little Door Club

Credit: Courtesy of Gabriel Tao

Gabriel Tao can make even a door to the IRS lead to a world of whimsy.

On the Tampa artist’s website, visitors are given a choice of four doors: each promoting one of his businesses, and one last portal labeled “I Don’t Like Fun.” Clicking the later instantly redirects the user to the Internal Revenue Service.

That playful, slightly subversive commitment to the bit is central to Tao’s Little Door Collection, a viral project that has evolved from a personal marketing tool into a high-concept branding service for Tampa Bay businesses.

Using his background in 3D printing, Tao now creates meticulously designed, 4.5-inch custom doors—each one a subtle, physical advertisement—as a direct response to a digital world he believes is exhausted by online ads.

“I think the most important currency is not money or even time, but attention,” Tao told Creative Loafing Tampa Bay. “This is just my way of captivating people’s attention.”

Tao began making the doors after realizing he needed a creative way to promote his Cozy AF themed Airbnb properties, which include a woodland-themed tiny house built from a shipping container, complete with a koi pond, and a school bus converted into a Medusa-themed rental with snake art and ornate gold details.

The project, which he now calls the Little Door Club, operates on a principle of subtlety. Unlike large-scale murals or billboards, the doors are often intentionally placed where people aren’t looking.

“I think now everything is big and in your face. So I wanted it to be subtle and me. I think there’s a reward for those who, you know, notice the small things,” he added.

The creation process for each door begins with extensive design work. Tao studies a business’s personality—for a plant shop, a door handle might be a tiny leaf; for a bail bondsman, he envisions a miniature jail cell. He then brings the design to life in his warehouse full of printers.

Tao relies on two main materials: PLA, a biodegradable filament used for indoor displays or temporary outdoor pieces, and the more durable PETG, which can withstand Tampa Bay’s harsh humidity and sun for years.

The most unique aspect of the Little Door Club is its relationship with its audience: the doors often disappear.

“I’m never surprised when people actually take them, which is part of the plan,” Tao admitted. “I leave little messages on the backs so they become personal keepsakes.”

Tao noted one incident where a person visited Tampa, found and kept a door, only to realize months later—when booking one of Tao’s fairy-themed Airbnbs—that they were the same artist

His new goal, he says, is for his doors to act as physical, collectible business cards. Tao is now focusing on creating a complete branding package for businesses. Tampa Bay businesses with their own little doors include Jolly Green Nursery, Reservoir Bar, Rubicon General Contractors, La Perrada Columbiana, the Aesthetic Portal, and the Green Room, among others.

“My goal is to make every cool business in Tampa Bay part of the Little Door Club,” Tao said.

Ybor City’s Reservoir Bar was one of the first to join the club with the addition of its own Little Door outside the business on E 7th Avenue.

“It’s something that people see and they’re like ‘Oh, I want one of those,’” Reservoir bartender Lisa Parisi told CL. “It’s a little bit different— everybody already has T-shirts and stuff.”

Tao gifted his friend, CEO of Rubicon Contracting Chris Morgan, a 3D printed door for his office.

“His creativity, his expertise with 3D printing, it’s not just a little door,” Morgan told CL. “I think this is probably step one of something bigger and more elaborate to come.”

Full disclosure: Creative Loafing has also joined the club. When CL approached Tao for this story, he volunteered to make a few 3D-printed doors for the publication. Keep an eye out for them—and CL newspapers—around Tampa Bay.

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Tampa artist connects businesses to real-world whimsy with Little Door Club

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