So we’re really doing this! How hard could it be right? Except for the fact we have no experience in pattern making, leather goods, backpacks, frankly the closest thing I’ve come to something like this is sewing a button back on to a well used shirt.
We’ve been working non-traditional jobs for about 3 years. There is no office to go to everyday, there is no set schedule of 9-5, our work is basically our lifestyle. And I feel like so many people are in the same position as us: the chronic entrepreneurs, those mom and pop shops, and those hobbyists that found their hobbies actually making them a living.
The bags we have currently just aren’t cutting it. We have laptop bags that don’t fit our cameras and camera bags that don’t fit our laptops and bags that fit both but are huge and bulky and the whole lot of them are not incredibly professional looking. And working for a small business we are constantly traveling with our laptops and cameras.
So despite the lack of experience in the bag industry, we knew the basics of what we wanted and jotted down a list of a few thoughts:
-fit a 15″ laptop + easy access
-easy access to a camera body + 1 lens
-water bottle
-somewhere for laptop charger/phone charger/headphones/ipad
-easy outside pocket for phone/keys/wallet/passport-water bottle
-as small as possible while still holding above items
-super professional and attractive while still being comfortable and functionable
A list is nice, a bag diagram would be better. I felt a little 6th grade art class when I was sketching these little drawings of backpacks. The sizes definitely weren’t to scale and I had no idea how it would translate into actually sewn pieces of leather fitting together.
It was a little rough, but, we figured it might be easier to explain changes to a sample bag rather then trying to define every single detail of a bag that didn’t exist. We were really excited with the ideas we had in mind and were hopeful that in the very least, we would get some rough sample bag of our own that we loved, even if it never went to production.
However, we didn’t even know if this diagram would get us anywhere, or if a manufacturer would even accept it, or if it would produce something that resembled a backpack.
Let the hunt for a manufacturer begin.