Bring Your Own Bag by Catherine Gavin Project Bundle Reusable Bags Design Team DO.GROUP DESIGN: Christopher Ferguson, Assoc. AIA; Megan Marvin Photographer Christopher Ferguson, Assoc. AIA
In March 2013, the City of Austin enacted an ordinance banning single-use carry-out bags. The law regulates the types of bags that can be distributed by businesses and has encouraged a larger cultural shift toward reusable bags. Plastic bags quickly became nonexistent in grocery stores, and bring-your-own-bag campaigns began popping up everywhere. That spring, Christopher Ferguson, Assoc. AIA, and Megan Marvin were ready to graduate from The University of Texas at Austin School of Architecture, and with just a few short months left to go, they decided to make some bags for their final design studio. The project has grown into a small, promising business. DO.GROUP DESIGN is what they call themselves, and while the two young designers are not quitting their day jobs at architecture firms any time soon, they plan to take their Bundle bags as far as the experiment can go. Ferguson splits his time between Austin and New York, while Marvin spends all her time on the East Coast. The markets, they say, are similar, and the bags have been well received — at larger events such as Brooklyn’s Renegade Craft Fair to small neighborhood farmers’ markets in New York and Austin. “Actually, we cannot meet the wholesale demand,” says Ferguson. “We are still searching for a partner manufacturer that makes sense for us.” Colorful, stackable, and strong, Bundle bags are made out of reinforced matte plastic and expand to accommodate larger objects. They are
84 Texas Architect
1/2 2015