Friday was Ellen’s third and last day (for now) at the Workshop. She will return in July to work on another round of prototypes. Friday morning she worked with John and Tae to create the second round of prototypes in time for the presentation to the staff in the afternoon. That afternoon she gave a presentation to the staff about her past work, ideas for her current book project Design Your Life, and her concepts for the Workshop bags. It was great to hear her speak and learn her unique take on what it means to be a graphic designer, or a designer period. To learn more about what she’s all about, check out her site: designwritingresearch.org.
One Comment
Hey TB2,
As I see you are designing new bags I thought I would leave some feedback… you see I have a bag which doesn’t seem to exist anymore — it’s basically a laptop Lex with a shoulder strap, somewhere between the Lex and the Messenger Laptop — it has a laptop sleeve, an interior zippered compartment with a keychain holder, and a gadgets & stuff compartment; it has a beefy handle with a deep zippered pocket right there (perfect for passports and airplane tickets), two thin backpack straps that tuck away in zippered flaps; side pockets (great for water bottles); and a removable shoulder strap so it carries and feels like a small messenger.
Now I love this bag — it’s perfect for airports, and I can switch it up from being a messenger bag to a make-do backpack when I need to head out on foot. Its many pockets are well-designed, and the deep pocket by the handle I haven’t seen on any other bag since (!!). The only thing is it’s a tad too small — I can’t really stuff a jacket in there, and I’d love to see a larger version. I get the feeling that the Outtawack Daypack (or whatever it’s called) is the new concept, but it’s lacking some of the features on this bag, and it looks and feels less like a Messenger, and more like a weird backpack.
I was thinking about it, and I have a suggestion: why not add the option of purchasing removable backpack straps to your messenger bags? The clips are already on the bottom of the bags; it really wouldn’t be that hard to put in hide-a-way backpack straps. This could be a build-your-own-option. And bring back the deep pocket — or make it an option — that sits where the handle is! That pocket allows me to stash things without opening the bag, and I really miss it (as well as the zippered interior pocket with the keychain — good money stash spot when travelling).
yours/ tobias