A growing number of Austin companies are joining the international trend of adding ping pong tables into the workplace to let employees blow off steam. As a fast-paced, low-impact game that's easy to pick up, it's the perfect way to build camaraderie and still establish dominance.

But this is Austin, y'all. We want to look good while we're winning. And that's where Austin entrepreneur David Lowe comes in.

For Lowe, ping pong is a way of life. And one that he wants to update so that everyone can share in his zeal. Uberpong, as he calls it, repurposes the iconic ping pong paddle into a canvas for eye-catching graphic design.

He explains: "People have their own style of play and a look that went with it, but this stopped with the equipment they were playing with. And then the metaphorical light bulb lit up above my head. Why couldn't the ping pong paddle be an extension of that person's passion and style?"

Lowe's goal is to "inject some much needed cool into ping pong." After watching how table tennis brought co-workers together while working in his London startup, he was inspired to encourage the same kind of communal goodwill in the States through the sport that he loved.

Now, Lowe is calling upon Austinites, with all of our passion for self-expression and personalization, to make help him make his dream a reality. For every $40.00 pledge to their Uberpong Kickstarter campaign, you can choose one of the 20 current paddle designs to make your new weapon of choice.

Each of the colorful paddle masterpieces were created by designers who have appeared on Origin of Cool, Lowe's tech, design and lifestyle website.

"We have featured some extraordinary artists, graphic designers and illustrators [on the site]," Lowe says on the new month-long Kickstarter page to launch Uberpong. "Many of them jumped at the chance to have their work appear on our paddles and be involved in a project that was breaking new ground."

Austin artists Jay Bramhall, Nathan Brown, Charlie Chauvin, Sophie Roach and Dan Patton are a few of the designers featured on the paddles along with international artists like British painter Hannah Adamaszek and Swedish graphic designer Viktor Hertz.

To sweeten the deal for the participating artists, they each will receive 20 percent of the sales for their individual paddle designs once the Kickstarter goal is met.

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See all 20 of the Uberpong designs and make your pledge at their Kickstarter page, which runs until Aug 14.