Weight
Rigidity
Versatility Mobility
Optimisation
Luminosity
Conductivity
Absorbency
Opacity
Durability Capacity
Efficiency Function
Dimensions
Customisation Texture Shape Style
Size
Material
Message
Taste Smell
Personalisation
Colour
Adaptivity
Usability
Affordance Sound
Safety
Ergonomics
Compatibility
Introduction Project Context I find it fascinating how objects we own evolve as we wear them out. Much like constant dropping wears away the stone, even the firmest of designs are shaped by their users over time. Our bodies, habits, tastes and personalities leave distinct marks on the things we own. And we imprint on our the objects of our surrounding, we begin forming affection towards them as well. To me it is one of the major components of a good user experience. Somehow an old wallet, a mug or an armchair can seem more meaningful and dear to us than it’s newer alternative. Of course this phenomenon can be partially explained by the attachment we form with our possessions as we let them into our routines. However, it has been also suggested that there is a deeper side to it. Particularly the cause of this phenomenon has been attributed to the concept of user investment. According to the concept, the more resources, especially ones like time, physical and mental effort, we put in an object, the more valuable we begin to perceive it. Having established the ever-growing value of user experience in the industry of product design today, I’ve decided to investigate the way this concept can be implemented in my professional practise. Unfortunately as time consuming as this phenomena of value magnification is, it can hardly provide substantial benefit for any fast-paced marketing strategies. Hence I began investigating potential shortcuts. Particularly I searched for the ways of boosting user’s involvement at the very early stage of his interaction with a product. And thus I turned to the idea of developing customisable objects and through that I entered an emegring filed of configurable product design.
Project Brief Task Create a product of customisable design, which belongs to a system or a service that chains it’s production, distribution and the overall interaction with the end user into a single narrative.
Criteria Both the product designed within the scope of this project and the system it belongs to has to offer a new perspective on the emerging field of configurable design in general. Moreover it has to be created with a consideration of the market sector it is aimed to become a part of. Therefore in spite all the innovative ideas the design will offer, the project must not be completely conceptual to the point where it is no longer suited for the market of today or for the form it is predicted to take in near future. This also means that the design has to meet the needs of it’s potential user rather than impose solutions to problems they didn’t know they had. Additionally, In spite the fact that the idea of configurable design to a certain degree contradicts the principles of streamlined production, it is essential that the outcome of this project is optimised for manufacture by an extend that it is still compatible with the products of mass production.
Stage 1 Preliminary Market Research A research on the market of configurable product designs as the overlapping area between the fields of customisable product making and service design. The research is particularly focused on systems or products that are available on the market of today and which are based upon the idea of empowering the user to directly influence their own design in the course of the purchasing process.
Product Customisation
Service Design
Configurable Design
The Market of Configurable Design Major Players Listed here are some of the biggest brands on the configurable product market. The list includes design studios, product manufacturers and distributors as well as companies specialising in developing software for online goods’ customization. The exact specialisation of any particular company is indicated by the coloured label which could be identified in the legend below. This particular list excludes any companies producing custom or hand made products as they offer the purchaser too much control over the design of the product and thus limit the creative input of the initial designer.
Legend P
Product developer
M
Manufacturer
D
Distributor
S
Software vendor
T
Currently tested
Nervous System
Uformit
D
P
D
P
M
A generative design studio. Specialises in
An online marketplace and platform for
development, and distributing of configurable
configurable design distribution.
S
3d printed jewellery and other accessories
Kwambio
Shapeways
D
M
P
T
D
M
P
A platform for configurable designers.
Manufacturer and the retailer of 3D printed
Distributes configurable digital models for
products. Some designs distributed through
customers to 3D print themselves.
the servile are custom made or configurable.
Fluid Forms
Mixee Labs
D
M
P
D
M
P
An online shop of decorative designs which
A platform for artists to create customizable
are based on images and other media
products and sell them online. The goods are
uploaded to their website by the client.
3D printed on-demand.
Digital Forming
M Another online platform which offers software and manufacturing facilities for configurable product makers.
S
Zooming in It is apparent that the even though companies in this list offer various products the type of configuration and the extend at which it depends upon users input stays on the same level throughout all the brands. Every company in the list specialises in production of either decorative objects or software for the creation of the latter. Thus no signs of functional configuration can be observed among the major players in the industry. From this perspective, getting analysing some smaller yet more experimental brands might drive some more insightfully conclusions.
The Second List The next spread contains the list of online stores that specialise on distribution of a single product or a small line of analogous products. The resources were picked online either for their unique approach to configurable product, or on the contrary for the extremely common approach to the practise which renders such products as representatives of a widespread brand type.
Voronoi Bookshelf
Furniture
Cookie Caster
Baking Moulds
Pup Workshop
Toys
Bitboard
Ciphering
Meine Moebel
Cutting Boards
Rings
Furniture
Droom
Furniture
Mymo
Freakin’ Sweet Apps
Jewellery
Fahz
Frohraum
Furniture
Jewellery
Vases
Preliminary Market Research Conclusions It is evident that the market for configurable goods is divided in two distinct sectors. The first sector is comprised of personalisable decorative designs, like ‘‘cosmetic� interior design pieces as well as jewellery, apparel, accessories and other fashion oriented goods. The second sector is formed around engineering-based function-driven configuration type. It primarily includes products associated with storage, space organisation or ergonomics. In spite the fact that this sector is considerably smaller that the first one, I see just as much market potential in it. I would therefore attempt to bridge the two sectors of configurable design in the scope of this project.
Shape
Function
Stage 2 Subject Research I’ve decided to choose the topic of portable containers, as the crosspoint between the fashion industry which represents aesthetic customisation and the market segment of storage and space organisation as the representation of functionally-configurable design.
Storage
Fashion
Bags
Briefcase Holdall Pouch Drawstring Bag
Shoulder Bag Duffel Sack Baggage
Bin Bag Case
Body Bag
Package Bag Purse
Fanny Pack
Shopping Bag
Wallet Hydration Pack
Satchel
Rucksack
Backpack Bindle
Packet
Med Kit
Backpack (Knapsack) - Canvas, nylon, or leather bag for clothes, food, and other supplies, carried on the back by soldiers, hikers, etc. – Dictionary.com
Messenger Bag
Phoresy Packs The topic of bags in design is extremely broad. To narrow things down, I’ve picked a single type of products that in my opinion is perfectly balanced in terms of aesthetic and functional significance - a backpack. Moreover, as the topic of backpacks even of itself is still too broad for the scale of this project, I will narrow the topic even more, by focusing on the type of backpacks that has been decided among the backpackers as a “Daypack”. Which is a small-to-medium sided casual backpack of a daily use and which is not designed to fit any particular profession or occupation. A daypack typically has a very simple structure to fit the needs of general audience, and at the same time has an a bright appearance to let its users express themselves with it.
Backpack Structure Types Structurally, daypacks usually represent simpler versions of other more specialised backpacks, rucksacks and other back mounted bags. Hence, it would be reasonable to analyse structural peculiarities of these more occupation-oriented backpacks in order to get a full understanding of what form-factor a daypack can possibly be. To do that, I will categorise most of the existing backpacks in groups based on the style of structural design.
Classification Principle The following list highlights the most common as well as the most structurally peculiar backpack types. It excludes equipment based backpacks like water packs, parachute knapsacks etc. as they are too diverse in types to be classified properly. I have also excluded military backpacks as they themselves much like daypacks represent slightly alternated versions of other bag types.
Conventional Backpacks Daypack A moderate-sized soft-sided two-strapped backpack with most of it’s weight distributed to it’s lower part.
S Flat Daypack A flatter and typically wider version of a regular daypack. Typically considered to be advantageous in crowded spaces like public transport as it does not make users movement as clumsy.
S Prefessional Backpack A structurally reinforced backpack for transporting various equipment lake laptops, cameras and etc. Primitive design is dictated by the extremely rational space organisation of the bag’s inner space.
H
S
Satchel Originally not made to be a back-mounted bag, satchels today sometimes do have shoulder straps. Mostly functional that ergonomic they represent a distinct type of “kind of backpacks”.
H
S
Sports Backpacks Sports Daypack A backpacks with it’s mass distributed closer to the upper part in order to not obstruct wearer’s movements like leaning foreword while biking or swinging arms freely when jogging.
H
S
Flat Sports Backpack A very lightweight tight-fitting flat backpack. For carrying basic essential that could otherwise be fit in your pocket, but which just don’t feel right in there when you do sports.
S SackPack A super light weight cloth bag with two string that function both as ties for the opening at the top an the shoulder straps. Minimalism at it’s best. Does not sit tight on your solders thought.
S
H
Hardshell
S
Soft-sided
Single Strap Bags Sling Pack Typically a drop-shaped single strap backpack. Designed to have it’s weight balanced along the strap for the user to be able to easily swing it to the front for accessing it’s contents.
S
Messenger Bag A hybrid of a backpacks and a shoulder bag. Much like satchels it prioritises in function more that ergonomics.
S Belt Backpack Another backpack/shoulder bag hybrid. Locates most of it’s mass around the user’s lower back. Features a belt strap to prevent the bag from accentually swinging to the front.
S
Single Strap Daypack A version of a typical rectangular backpack with a only one strap. Unlike the sling pack it is not built around the idea of a pack conveniently singing to the user’s front.
H
S
Travel Backpacks Rucksack For some long term traveling. The design is dictated by the principle of containing as much weight possible while possessing enough ergonomics to make such a load actually carriable.
S
Travel Daypack For short term travels, including bike trips. The typically tall but narrow structure is built to not get on the way of your arms while not compromising the carriable capacity.
BackTpack
S
®
Perhaps the most unusual “backpack” design. Built with mostly ergonomics in mind. Splits the container to balance the weight on the sides of your torso.
S
H
Hardshell
S
Soft-sided
Subject Research Conclusions After categorising all the backpacks into structural types, I realised that the difference between the types if usually lies in some satieties that seem insignificant at first. That might be due to the fact that in backpacks there are too many parameters in which a perfect average does not exists. Hence the market is forced to supply many packs of slight deviations in terms of capacity, proportions, rigidity, ergonomics, and etc. This perspective reinforces the idea that reconfigurability will come as a great contribution to a backpack as a market unit.
$
20
26
32
38
44
50
56
62
68
74
80
86
92
98
5
10
Stage 3 Market research In order to collect enough data for forming an idea about the optimum configurable
daypack, it is wise to conduct the research simultaneously in two distinct directions. On the one hand, to enter the oversaturated market of bags it is important to get the overall image of the most mainstream daypacks out there today. On the other had it is essential to get an insight into some of the more visually and structurally sophisticated bags produced by smaller companies as it they are most likely going to become the direct competitors of the of
+16 +10 +19 +13
the product I am to develop.
15
+4
+2
104
Mass Market Analysis Major Brands For this list I’ve picked the brands that offered the most of products on some of the major backpacks retail websites (backcountry.com, ebags.com, overstock.com, shopbop.com) and which were the most frequently “googled� by the general audience in search of backpacks (data collected from Google Trends web facility). Brands on this list do not necessarily have to specialise in distributing backpacks, as long as the ones they produce comprise a considerable share of the respected market. Also considering that daypacks are the major subjects of my interest I only included sports equipment companies that sell small and structurally simple backpacks and which market them not only as sports bags but also as casual/lifestyle packs. For the same reason any companies behind professional and specialised backpacks were excluded from the list.
Legend B
Specialising in backpacks
S
Sport oriented
L
Lifestyle oriented
F
Function oriented
G
Gender specific (Female)
S
S
B
S
L
S
B
L
B
L
B
B
L
L
G
S
B
L
B
B
F
$
20
26
32
38
44
50
56
+16 +10 +19 +13
+4
62
68
5
10
15
+2
74
80
86
92
98
104
110 116 122 128 134 140 146 152 158 164 170 176 182 188 194
Market Saturation Chart Cart Description This chart depicts the the the level of market saturation across multiple price categories. It includes a considerable share of all the daypacks present on the market of today. To simplify the chart, when listing the backpack I omitted the ones which only differed insignificantly from the packs made by the same brand which were already present in the list.
Conclusion It is apparent that the quantity of backpacks present on the market drops significantly after the mark of $100. It also seems like the bags of the second half of the chart have less bright and but more visually sophisticated designs. To identify if that assumption is true more research will have to be conducted.
$
Zooming in A list of daypacks with the lesser scale of distribution and which are generally less mainstream. For this list I looked at packs that stand out in terms of design, posses features like high level of sustainability or have an extraordinary distribution strategy. Only brands directly specialising in backpacks have their products listed here. I also excluded any limited addition, handmade or made on demand backpacks. Prices were translated into U.S. dollars at the exchange rate on 26.02.2015
F
Backpack possessing a certain feature
M
Has multiple iteration of a backpack by the same brand
K
A product of a crowdfunded project
Boreas Gear Hopper
Focused Space The Commander
BagDoRi Multipocket
M
Just Porter Piko F M
$69.99
$70.00
$77.90
$79.00
Baggu Backpack
The Mijlo bag M
Mad Pax Spiketus Rex
BagDoRi Slander City
F K
$38.00
Tessel Jet Pack
$39.00
Alite Designs Hikari Pack
$60.00
Will Leather G. Give Will
K
M
$80.00
$84.00
$85.00
$69.90
Bowhurst London Pack
$85.00
Mueslii Edizioni
Tok Backpack M
Kletterwerks Tote Pack
The Hundreds Jon Backpack
F
M
K
$88.56
Hemetic Tr. Co. Day-to-Daypack
$89.00
Momo design Backpack
K
$89.00
Filson Dry Day
$89.00
Tessel Anti-Gravity F
F K
$119.00
$117.00
$125.00
$130.00
Pangoline Color
Supe Design Day Bag
$99.00
High Spirit Ostrich
$138.74
Single Strap Bags
SealLine Urban Backpack
M
M
F
$100.79
$100.92
$110.00
Mafia Bags Sail Pack
Topo Designs Daypack
Mochibag
F
F
K
K
$139.00
$149.00
$154.07
Wheelmen & Co Scout Series
Archival Clothing Day Pack
Goertzen Adv. Eq Summit Pack
Zagond Design Xtreme
M
$159.00
Solid Grey
$189.50
$160.00
Wolffepack Metro
$165.00
PX Invisible
$168.20
Kletterwerks Summit Daypack
F
F
K
K
$192.69
$198.85
M
$199.00
Savage Supply Leo
Nanamica Day Pack
Will Leather G. Dome Backpack
Babylon Road Classic
K
M K
$170.00
Rickshaw Sutro
$172.13
Cote&Ciel Isar F
$175.00
Modern Industry Redux M
M
$199.00
$200.00
$180.00
Fluoa Fusion
K
$199.00
$200.80
$40 Price $200
ClichĂŠ
Semantic Level
Innovative
Matrix Market Analysis Cart Description The following matrix organises backpacks listed on the previous pages according to their price and the level of aesthetic innovation that they embody.
Market Niche The matrix shows that while at the lower price categories backpacks in terms of design are evenly spread across all the semantic levels, more expensive backpacks fall in one of two distinct categories. The first one includes packs that possess relativity traditional and even by some extend conservative appearance and which emphasize on luxurious material and high build quality. The second category consists of bags of highly innovative appearance which question the whole idea of what a backpack can be and thus do not anchor upon anything conventional. It is quite possible that a attempt to bridge the two categories can make for some exciting outcomes. For example a daypack that has an extraordinary futuristic appearance while being made of hight quality natural materials could potentially fill this market gap.
Price
$40
Leather (state othe types of lyxutipus materials) Organic Textile
Synhtetic textile
Plastic/ compoit symthetic materials Artificial leather and Cart Description To prove my assumption about the dependence of material choice on the price of a backpack I’ve conducted another piece of research. Particularly I’ve investigated the type of materials each backpack is made and then categorised them accordingly while still organising them along the price range.
$200
Conclusions As it turns out, types of materials used in each backpacks did not correlate with the price of the bag. Textile remained the most popular material chose no matter what number was on the price tag of the product. Instead correlation was noticed in the way the material was treated. While for cheaper bags companies dyed both synthetic and natural materials mostly in vibrant colours, for more expensive ones they chose more conservative tones.
Market Research Conclusions The research conducted up to this stage suggests that the market sector of backpacks priced from $80 to $200 presents the most potential for a startup company. There is no doubt however that even these sector is already heavily saturated. Thus to survive such an intense competition this project is required to bring something new to the table. Therefore from here there are two possible directions of potential development. I can either make a structurally peculiar backpacks that nonetheless has a spirit of some classic bag. Alternatively I can produce a product of a simple design which will at the same time feature some unusual/experimental materials and production techniques. Whatever the direction I choose it is probably a good idea to avoid making any textile products as according to this piece of research it is by far the most common material used for backpack production.
A
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
20%
40%
60%
80%
100% Stage 4 Statistical Analusis
Vacation Season Academical year start
In order to define a suitable approach to marketing my backpack it could help to look at
the way similar products are positionedon the market of today. Additionally a close analusis Holiday Shooing Season of some statistical data can also give a couple of relevant insights. From this prespective
the question of how often and under wich surcumbstances do people think of purchaing a backpack is of the most relevance at this stage of the project.
May
Cart Description The graph on the right illustrates the frequency of web searches within the topic of backpaks over a year period. It is according to this grapght that the peak of public interest in backpacks occurs at the end of summer season. That is not a surprising piece of data considering the seasonal aspect of the product. Moreover backpakcs experince as slignt increase in public interest to them sowhere arround the winter holiday season, but so any goods that could be considered as a gift.
Broadening The Context Due to the specificty of the online facility used for accuring the data (Google Trends) the graph only provides information on the english speacking countries. Thus in order to form an understanding about some other countries in wich backpacks are aloso a common search topic here is a small list of other languages accompanied by persantages by wich the number of searches on the topic has grown over the month period.
Russian
+1050%
Spanish
+160%
Japaneese
+160%
Franch
+120%
Yearly Search Rate Pattern
100%
80%
60%
40%
20% May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Vacation Season Academical year start Holiday Shooing Season
Oct
Nov
Dec
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
The Starting Point It is apparent that such rise in backpack popularity spawned a certain number of the major associated brands of today. Most notable example of such a brand is Herschel Supply Co. which while marketing itself as an oldscholl trustworthy brand with long history was actually founded in 2009, at the very dawn of the trend.
90%
70%
50%
30%
10% 2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
Cart Description The line chart below demonstrates how the public interest in backpacks grew over the last 10 years. Much like the one on the previous page, the graph is based no the statistical data about the total online search-volume in the respected category. Evidently, the chart follows the same yearly pattern that was defined on the previous spread, but still has a general upwards direction. When analysing the graft, however, it is vital to consider that with the current rapid development of the internet itself the search-volume in any category is generally going up even when the public interest remains relatively unchanged and this rise must at least partially account for the escalation of the chart’s figures.
100%
80%
60%
40%
20% 2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
Statystical analusis Conclusions Backpacks trending as a product certainly formulate a solid ground for the introduction of new products of the type to the market. The problem however is that this rise has been happening for a while already and thus a hole lot of such bags has already been introduced. If I shall consider promoting my product primarily on the local market, or at least a the scale of the country, then my product will be in a much more advantageous position, considering the underdeveloped design industry and simultaneously rising demand on backpacks on Russian market.
Stage 5 Ergonomics Research On the one hand a design of every backpack as the one of any piece of wearable equipment is certainly dependant on a set of some ergonomics parameters. On the other hand, however, a daypack is a very personal object that is meant to fit it’s user’s lifestyle and his individual preferences more than the universal standards of what is understood to be comfortable and healthy. This stage is dedicated to define the right extend at which ergonomics is should influence the design of such bag.
The Key Parameters Listed below are the four major parameters which have to be taken into the consideration in the process of making backpack properly fitting it’s user. The figures next to them are based on the data collected from mostly European population. Torso length is crustal because unless it matches the height of the backpack the weight of the latter will not be properly distributed on the wearer’s body. The chest width at the same time defines the location of the shoulder straps. The dimensions of packs with belt straps also rely on the waist girth for the obvious reasons. Another important parameter is the weight of the wearer. It determines the maximum carriable capacity and hence the volume of the bag.
Cart Description The schematics on the right prides some more gender specific data. This is averaged data from multiple online sources(including ergonomics guides from the major online backpacks retailers and some research papers on the topic.)
Torso length
32-58 cm
Weight
60-120 kg
Waist girth
79-119 cm
Chest width
61-107 cm
Carriable weight
38-58 cm 32-54 cm 91-119 cm
79-100 cm
71-107 cm
61-81 cm
Max 8 kg
Max 6.6 kg
Weight distribution Another vital ergonomic parameter of a backpack is how it influences the centre of it’s wearer’s mass. The more weight of the bag is distributed to it’s bottom, the father foreword the person will have to lean in order to counterbalance the shift in mass. In time such posture can cause some long term back problems. Alternatively by concentrating most of it’s weight around the backpack’s top it is possible to minimise this forced leaning and thus minimise the pressure put on the user’s back. However, in order to prevent the weight from shifting back to the bottom of the structure the bag itself has to sit a lot more tight on the torso and thus be more exacting in terms of ergonomics.
Centre of mass Authorised Neglection Apparently this issue could not be resolved with some sort of perfect balancing. It seems that every improvement in one direction comes with a certain trade-off in the other. In the end It becomes a matter of personal preference rather than actual ergonomics. Luckily most ergonomic requirements become significantly less significant as we talk about the low capacity lightweight backpacks, which daypacks are understood to be. Particularly it is suggested that unless backpack’s maximum capacity does not exceed 10% of the wearer body mass some ergonomics requirements can be neglected.
Double Straps
+ Belt Straps
The most common way strapping. The even
An addition of a belt to any backpack strapping
distribution of the weigh on the shoulders
solution distributes the weight away from
prevents spinal curvature. Ideal for small loads.
the back to the waist sides were the body
Does not, however drive any weight away form
can support significantly greater weight load.
the wearer’s back.
Typically used in some the most roomy bags.
Single strap
Cross Strapping
Generally considered as a less ergonomic type
Allegedly the most efficient type of weight
of strapping. Does not distribute the load evenly
distribution. Completely shift the load from
across the body and hence can be harmful fr
that back to the sides of the body, thus to the
your back. It is however more ergonomic than
maximum relieving spine from the load.
wearing a regular backpack using a single strap.
Statystical Analysis Conclusions While there is a whole list of parameters that a design of a truly ergonomic backpack has to consider, there are not so many of them which an average daypack has to take into the account. While torso length and chest width do impose certain limits on bag’s structure, parameters like waist girth and body mass barely have any effect on it. Thus from a user perspective it is enough to know your height, gender and the type of your approximate bodily constitution to make sure that the bag will fit properly. These parameters have a slight effect on the design. It is in also safe to say that a backpack should be more about personal ergonomic preferences than universal standards. Hence configurability in ergonomic terms can become the major advantage of my daypack over the rest of the market which typically achieve only partial personalisation through various modular designs.
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WEIGHT DISTRIBUTION OFF BALANCE
Stage 6 Conceptualisation
110 3 KG 16 L
It is time to formulate a proper idea as to what the outcome of this project will be. To do that I will first come up with a number of persona profiles which I would then use in the idea generation and then the interface prototyping proses.
Graduated from collage 3 years ago. Together with his girlfriend Helga they travel as freelance photographers. It’s Helga’s birthday soon so he wants to give her a functional and at the same time very personal present. Thus thinks of buying her a backpack.
Age
27
Occupation
Traveling
Backpack Purpose Girard Humberton
Requirements
Freelance Photography
Daily city traveling
Lightweight
Easily accesable
Weather proof
Single-strapped
Unique
Girard tries hard combining work an studying. Uses public transport a lot and has to carry his laptop with him. He thinks of buying a larger laptop soon but he realises that he might need a wider bag to take it places first.
Age
25
Occupation
IT
Student (Programming)
Backpack Purpose Makiv Dimon
Requirements
Wide
Laptop Bag Flat
Secure
Robust enough to protect it’s contents
Well fitting
A young professional living in Amsterdam. Bikes between home and work. Occasionally has to take business trips on train. Needs a medium sized versatile backpacks for situations when his shoulder bad is too small and his suitcase is inconveniently massive.
Age
33
Occupation
Advertising Manager
Backpack Purpose Calvin Hungus
Requirements Semi-formal
Cycling
Versatile
Daily city traveling Compact when empty
With multiple compartments
Lori is a university freshmen. She lives with her parents and is currently looking for a backpack to ask from them as her Christmas present. She sees any bag as a way of self expression, more than a functional object.
Age
20
Occupation
Student(Medicine)
Backpack Purpose Lori Daniels
Requirements
Styding
Bright
Single compartment
Loose fitting Music player compatrment
Interface Prototyping Main Points of Configuration Having defined the target audience for my service, I was able to begin the investigation of their needs. Primarily I did that trough verbal conversations, and short user testing sessions of the prototype interface that was built to convey the idea of my future system. After a series of such interviews I was able to identify the four key parameters that have to be configurable in a customisable backpack.
Strapping type People usually seem to argue the single versus double backpack strapping. Thus interface must provide at lest these two options. Moreover some claim they would consider some unusual strapping solutions should they be suggested to them.
Volume and Weight Balance My target audience generally seem to favour the idea of being given some control over what and how they carry. People don’t like currying a half empty bag all the time or packs that do not fit the way you move.
Zipper location This one came to me during the market research. I’ve noticed that while some brands point out that their bags have very discreet zipper location, others emphasise upon it’s accessibility and length. The two ideas contradict each other, so why not give people a choice?
Aesthetic configuration An obvious one. There is always a share of decoration in every customisation service. I should not, however, be predominant in my particulate case.
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Initial Concept Outline After analysing the possibilities of the market and the consumer needs and drafting a few scenarios of configurable backpack distribution I came up with this system/interface. For now, it is only an initial vision of the future outcome of the project and it will be used as a kick-off point from which I will begin to work out some technical solutions for it’s realisation.
The Key Steps 1
User visits a website or runs a movile application.
2
If his devidce supports 3D scanning he is given an option to scan himslf.
3
Next he configures his virtual avatar to fit his body shape.
4
He then proceeds to choose the type of strapping as a bas for the bag.
5
A drag and drop interface is used to place several modules over straps.
1 6
These compartments are then configured according to user preferences.
7
The interface informs the user about any structural inconsistencies.
8
Lastly the user confirm the design and fill in all the shipping data.
9
Eventually the he recives his backpack via mail.
Conceptualisation Conclusions The research data suggest the there are two possible approaches daypack’s configurability. The first one I would define as “Permanently modular“. This approach is partly driven from the realisation that most people configure their modular backpacks, much like most of other modular product, only once soon after their acquisition. This suggests that instead of packing bag’s structure with lots of mounts and fastening points for modules’ attachment, the modularity itself can be built into the service for backpacks retail. In other words, prior to purchasing the user can have a chance of building his backpack from blocks which are then permanently fixed in the design. The second approach follows the ideas of generative design. It suggests not to empower the user to create a backpack for himself, but to enable the backpack adapt to the user. In a way this means that a bag will be somehow generated based on a set of simple user imputs. Even thought this will reduce the amount of control offered to the user, it will certainly improve the overall experience of a bag’s creation as he will be relieved from the frustration of not knowing what he wants.
Stage 7 Technology Research & Prototyping The stage at which I finally form a complete understanding of what my backpack thus the service it will belong to will resemble after filtering all my ideas, concepts and insights through the filter of technological viability.
Materials & Production Processes The Divercity Due to the diversity of backpack types and the fashion side to a backpack as a product, which accounts for it’s constant visual reinterpretation, the list of materials used for making this type of bags is virtually limitless. Here is the list of the most common ones as well as the list of the most popular manufacturing techniques associated with them. In case of my particular project, the diversity is limited by the fact that each backpack created within my system has to have a unique design. This will eventually filter out all the production processes that rewire stamps, moulds and other pieces of manufacturing equipment that will lock the design in one particular iteration.
Cloth
Sewing
Textile
Injection moulding
Synthetic textile
Vacuum forming
Felt
3D Printing
Leather
Laser cutting
Plastic
Carving
Wood
CnC milling
Cork
Forming
Metal
Casting
Cork Carving T
C
N
Faramed Fabrics F
T
C
N
F
What fascinates me about this one is the
This method involves scratching the fabrics
material. If we replace all the manual
over a lazercut metal framework. The
labour involved with an advance CnC milling
latter is a produced a lot easier (for me,
equipment, it can make for some cheap
personally) than textile patterns used for
rigid designs of some highly extraordinary
most backpacks today.
appearance.
Filtering Out Here are some of backpacks production methods that I consider to have the most potential of being implemented in my project. The defining criteria for this list was for a method to provide enough structural flexibility to the end product. I also looked at some of the most unusual, but still technologically viable and efficient processes. Lastly it was very important for the process to not drive the cost of the product too hight so any involvement of manual labour, rare or unuque materals had to be minimised.
Plastic Lasercuting
Vacuum forming
T
T
C
N
F
C
N
F
Perhaps the most efficient one of all. The
Another cheap and easy way to produce
entire backpacks is produced from a single
robust structures. Even though it still
piece of lazercut plastic, held together by
requires a master model, requirements for it
industrial rivets.
are not very strict and so the master model itself can be made modular.
+
-
Time
T
T
Cost
C
C
Novelty
N
N
Flexibilty (technology wise)
F
F
Foldable Designs Why From all the production techniques, I find folding backpacks from sheeted materials to be of utmost efficiency. Particularly I like the possibility of implementation of two-dimensional manufacturing methods which prove to bee much more cheap and production-wise flexible than most of the 3D tooling processes.
Kinetics
The second reason I turned to foldable designs is that they sometimes make for some amazing kinetic structures. The prototype illustrated above was at one stage used to test the amount of mobility I could add to an otherwise rigid backpack.
Configurability
The kinetics of folding structures also contributes to their configurability. I programmed a few algorithmic simulations , and found out that I can generate and infinite amount of visual iteration of a single design just by sligntly altering some of it’s core parameters.
Drawbacks
The major flaw of structures produced this way is that as they unfold into a flat state for easier manufacture, they can account for some serious excessive material consumption. That is when we consider cutting irregularly shaped pattens from rectangular sheets.
Folded Geometry Different Techniques To make my foldable structures even more efficient in terms of production, I began looking for the ways of creating shapes from regularly shaped sheets. After some unsuccessful experiment with weathering, I began analysing various origami structures on the subject of their potential implementation in backpack manufacture.
Ron Resch
Eventually I realised that a good share of origami models that excited me and which I tried to replicate was initially developed by a single artist, computer scientist, and applied geometrist Ron Resch in 1960s. This creative practitioner pioneered the studies of adaptive folding structures and other types of various computer generated models.
Crease Patterns A particular type of structures invented by Ron Resch that captivated me the most were his crease patterns. The best part about them was that they were formed from an uncut pieces of paper. This completely cancelled potential structural flaws of rigid folded backpacks like excessive material waste and their lack of whether and particularly water protection.
The Structure of Choice The Triangular Crease Pattern The structure that eventually settled upon is called the triangular crease pattern. I’ve chosen it for it’s flexibility, adaptive and expansion properties and as well as it’s unique appearance. It also happens to be a crease pattern of the simplest and most rational geometry which might prove to be beneficial further on at the production stage. And so I’ve set myself a goal of making this pattern into a real backpack.
Different Media
Metal
The distinctive appearance of this pattern found its way into varous types of media. Most notably to the areas of architecture, art and interactive design.
Wood
Paper
Textile
Computer Graphics
Initial Prototyping Defining The Production Method Having decided upon a pattern I will implement in my design, I still needed to come up with a suitable material and technique for making it into a real backpack. Hence I began making technological prototypes in order test various already existing manufacturing processes and potentially develop some of my own.
Plastic Pressure Forming
I began by experimenting with semi-rigid materials like plastic. I’ve made a two part plaster mould an a silicon mould to press on heated plastic sheet with. The material however onyl got pierced instead of being formed as apparently it was too stiff to crease.
Neoprene Pressure Forming
To test if any materials could be pressed into a crease patten in general I 3D printed a twopieced mould of a single segment of the pattern. This time I tested it on some soft materials like neoprene which obtained the shape well, but was too soft to fold into a neat pattern.
Plastic Vacuum Forming No Image
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Then I used the same plaster moulds and vacuum formed them with plastic. It made for a nice pattern which however had only a slight resemblance with the crease pattern I wanted to achieve and which unfortunately did not bend at all.
Wet Leather Forming Setup
Having succeeded only with pressing a pattern on some soft material, I’ve decided to work with some materials that could be hardened after the moulding process. Particularly I intended to form different types of leather with a CnC milled wooden mould.
Prosess
To harden the leather I boiled it prior to the moulding process. The wooden mould was also supposed to contribute to material’s stiffening as it would soak up the excess water thus speeding up the drying process, which is said to give leather extra rigidity.
Outcomes
Unfortunately even the soften types of leather did not obtain the pattern properly and even thought material did become stiffer the overall piece did not behave like origami. That was caused by the fact that it’s fold were not sharp enough.
Insights
To make the folds sharper I used clamps to force the materials into a desired shape. As a materials sample the outcome was rather satisfying, but the overall process was too time consuming and therefore inefficient production-wise.
Leather Debossing The Idea
I then came up with an idea of thinning the material down along the fold lines for better creasing. Initially I wanted to achieve this through debossing and conducted a few experiments to prove that stamped lines do indeed contribute to leather folding.
Stamp # 1
However, when I tried debossing a full pattern on a piece of leather I did not manage to achieve the same depth of depression as I achieved on some small-scale samples. It was apparent that the press I used for debossing purposes did not provide enough pressure.
Stamp # 2
So I made another stamp, which had a smaller area of contact with the leather sheet. The area reduction was achieved by thinning down the pattern lines and also rounding their edges. To produce such a stamp I had to mould it from epoxy resin using a CnC milled wax form.
Outcome
Even with the second mould the outcome sheet could not crease at all. I also tried softening the leather pieces by soaking them in water before debossing, but even thought it did make the resulting pattern more noticeable, it still failed not achieve the right level of depression.
Plastic CnC Milling Setup
Next I tried using a CnC milling process as an alternative to debossing. For this series of prototypes I’ve chosen to work with some semi-soft plastic sheets as I already had some experience milling linear patterns on them.
Attempt # 1
To test the limits of the material, I first milled a pattern at maximum possible depth. The resulting sheet did form the perfect triangular crease pattern, but its thin folds wore off and broke very soon.
Attempt # 2
I gradually raised the thickness of the material left on the bending edges to the point where it cloud no longer break. Unfortunately it became too thick to bend properly and so I had to apply heat and eventually even bake it to force plastic into keeping the right shape.
Outcome
The problem with baked model was that while it did take the shape of a proper crease pattern, it could not unfold back into it’s initial flat shape. Therefore this material cloud not have any implementation in my design.
Leather CnC milling Attempt # 1
I’ve decided to experiment with composite materials which would be easy to mill on one side and durable on the other. Then I realised that leather could possibly be a layered material of such properties. I tied milling it, but it worked by caused a mess on the flash side of material.
Attempt # 2
I figured that if I use leather with less fibres I could prevent the pattern edges form fuzzing. Thus I some ought split leather instead a full-grain one. The edges were still a bit buzzy this was only an aesthetic flash and did not disrupt a neat in every other way pattern.
Clipping
Unfortunately this rough leather behaved in a similar too plastic manner. So I also had to clip it and then set it aside for not being applicable in my backpack. So I understood that it is the techniques of milling softer types of leather that I would have to continue investigating.
Sampling
So I turned back to the full-grain leather. This time instead of milling a single large sheet, I milled with a varying speed many sample pieces. Turned out Neither wax nor oils can prevent the fuzziness, and only the slow speed and greater milling power helped to avoid it.
The First Sucsess The Setup No Image
As there was no more powerful machine at my disposal, I tried balancing the parameters of the schools machine in order to achieve an acceptable milling quality while still keeping the machining time down to about an hour. I then cut all the Uneven bits with seniors manually.
Still Clipping
I realised that even thought the resulting piece did crease well it still required clips to be keep all its angles sharp. And so I looked for the way of fixing this problem.
Wet Forming
What I did was that I soaked the material well and then put it into a drying mould milled of foam. Then I left the sheet compressed this way over a coule of nights expecting that it would dry out and remember the folded state to the point where it will no longer unfold by itself.
The Outcome No Image
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The result was a really neat triangular crease pattern with very sharp folds and proper bending qualities. Leather behaved like no other material I’ve made into a crease pattern before. At this point I realised that I will devote a good share of this project to it.
Leather CnC milling Milling
Shearing
Molding
Oiling No Image
Going Big New Material
Setup
Milling Myself
Outsourcing
Going Big Intermediate Outcome
Dyeing
Applying Finish
Creasing
Going Big Intermediate Outcome
Moulding No Image
Glueing Edges No Image
Layering Textile
sdc;ojsd;kicosk;ndc
No Image
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Full Scale Leather Varnishing
Milling
Manual Refining
Refining Edges
Full Scale Painting Edges
Forming
Drying
Stitching
Cork Prepossessing Coating
Cork + Leather Compost
Press Form
No Image
No Image
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Detailing Leather Engraving
Aluminium Milling
Metal Engraving
Galvanising
Press Forming Setup # 1
Attempt # 1
Attempt # 2
Attempt # 3
Press Forming Setup # 2
Outcome
Attempt # 1
No Image
No Image
No Image
Leather Pressure Forming Setup
Outcome # 2
Outcome # 1
Outcome # 2.5
Leather Pressure Forming Outcome # 3
Debossing
Stitching
Final Outcome
Assambling The Two Parts
Joining
Textiel Interior
Accesories
Technology research Conclusions The material I’ve eventually developed for backpack’s main shell turned out to be the major innovation point of the project. From all the sheet materials I tried to make into a crease pattern, full-grain cowhide leather proved to be the most suitable. The determining factor here was the unique layered structure of this natural material. The top layer of this leather is very durable while the ones beneath it mostly provide rigidity. By CnC milling a linear pattern on the flesh side of the leather piece, I was able to make it in parts flexible, while preserving the overall material’s durability, which allowed for the production of the entire shell from single sheet of leather. The reason I used CnC milling rather than debossing is that it provides a superior cut quality and production flexibility. By excluding any mould and stamps from the manufacturing process I was able give a each leather sheet a unique pattern and thus each bag a unique shape without any extra expenses.
Stage 8 The Interface As the interface for online distribution of daypacks also accounts for the simplification of the manufacturing process it is bound to become the second key feature of the project. The major criteria for it is how much it goes beyond the industry cliché of a generic slider-andtextfield based systems for pre-purchase product configuration. Instead the design of the product has to be generated in a more profound manner. The initial concept is to make a backpack generated on a digital representation of user’s body. To do that I would ty to map the digitally simulated physical model of a chrese pattrn on a 3d model of a man, representing the acquired through 3D scanning user’s “avatar“.
The Major Prototype Crease a Pattern Mapping Interestingly enough the main challenge in making a simulation for mapping backpacks was not in pro-gaming of the forces a piece of virtual leather fabric is subjected to, but in masking this complex algorithm behind a user-friendly interface. In order to achieve such simplification I made all the iterative it’s interactive parts in 2D so that the user would not experience the purchasing proses as a 3D modelling session, rather than as a “show� played under his supervision.
Conceptualisation The process of strapping geneerationm turned out to be too complex to allow for any user control. Instead I programmed it to be conducted at a single press of a button. All the user has to do is to pick the type of strapping winch is then wrapped aground his body and merged with the rest of the bag. To see the proses in action please check out this early video prototype.
Video Prototype
Conceptualisation These are some of the shapes I was able to generate with the help of my crease pattern simulator. Due to the technological peculiarities for the Kangaroo Physics Engine for Grasshopper 3D there no way you can completely recreate the exact outcome of each generative session. Considering that my future interface is meant to promote the uniqueness of each bag, that is a serious advantage ober any other generative deigns technique I’ve worked before.
Sketching The Straping Solutions In roder to identify the right strapping positioning algorithm I needed to first sketch and then to manually 3d model them. Only after that did I develop a complete understanding as to what shapes they can take. And only from there did I begin programming them in Grasshopper.
Project Video
Stage 9 Styling & Branding The crease patterned leather shell was taken As a determining element of the Phoresy Packs’ style. Thus the unique appearance of daypacks was born from the confluence of shapes generated by the software piece I produced and the peculiarities of the innovative manufacturing techniques.
Sketching Initial Concept
Conceptualisation As with any service augmented products, branding plays a crucial role in this project as well. The name of the project “Phoresy” was inspired by some of the early sessions of interface user testing. It was pointer out to me back then that when generated on a human model, a “backpack” resembled a living creature spreading over its host’s body. I was fascinated by this association and wanted to somehow convey its spirit into the final design. Hence I titled a project with a term taken from the field of ecology. By definition, Phoresy is a nonparasitic relationship between two organisms in which one species is carried about by another. Even though backpacks produced with my service now have only a vague resemblance with a living organism, it still represents the idea that objects we live next to and which we care for have a life of their own. Because they emerge, they age and they evolve to fit us. An example of Phoresy would be the relationship between a tuertle and remora cruising on a turtle’s back.
Projects’ Logo
Stage 9 The Final Outcome Phoresy Pack is the first backpack of its kind. So it does not speak only for itself, but for a hole system for personalisable product creation. The unique materials used for it’s manufacture combined with a generative design platform shaped in a form of a user friendly interface allows for each iteration of the Pack to be tailored to an individual consumer terms of in ergonomics, functionality and aesthetics. All that without compromising the efficiency of it’s mass production.
The Colour Pallet Bright + Suoppporting Each backpack is meant to have two major colours. The first, bright one, being for the crease patterned shell. It’s shade thus determines the overall appearance of the bag and in a way highlights the innovative and experimental side to the project. The second, supporting colour is meant to contrast the first halt and with it’s natural appearance winch emphasises on the traditional character of materials used for bags creation. The colour pallet for the supporting tone would be significantly smaller (about 3-4 colour options).
The Final Outcome
Product Details
Product Insitu