Almost Lunch Time

I realized today that I had spent the last several weeks, if not months, working on items to put in my shop…and not a single second was set aside to build something just for myself. Well, I am in need of a break. And this is the day the break begins. It is important to take the time to design things just for the sake of designing. If you are always working for your wallet, designing for dollar bills, and creating for cash – you might not be exploring the full potential of what you are capable of. The big caveat with making things to sell is that you end up trying to base your design decisions on what the general mass market will want…not what you want/envision. I think this can be a good thing and a bad thing. While it does set a design parameter in place – the need to create something functional that will solve a problem – it also keeps you from developing ideas that may be more creative in context, thus different from what already exists.

Today I am taking a step back. I have spent several months getting my shop back up and running with new items, arranging code for my online shop, photographing + writing descriptions, etc…it’s an ongoing process that does take a considerable amount of time. Now that the majority of that work has been set in its place, it is time to design something for myself.

Problem

The first order of business, pick a problem and solve it with my wood or leather skills. Every day I go to work and pack my lunch in a re-used plastic shopping bag. Those damn bags aren’t of much other use Scratch that, actually – apparently they are…(25 Uses of Plastic Bags). Anyways – after a week or so, the bag tends to fall apart, sometimes while over a table, and sometimes while over cement where the outcome is not at all pleasurable.

Solution

To solve this problem I have started the preliminary sketches of a roll-able, simple, minimalistic lunch carry case that will require no stitching, only one piece of leather, and should look fit for a man to carry in his hand. The last design parameter was the hardest and I won’t know for sure that it meets this requirement until the piece is finished- but in general if you keep it simple, with straight lines, no frills, super functional, and use relatively small handles – you should be in the clear. Follow my progress this week as I photograph the steps involved in making the Every Man Simple Lunch Carry Case.

Head on over to DAY 2 to see the progress on this lunch box design. NEXT PAGE

Have a design question on your mind? Post it in the comment section below for a quick answer.