In 2010, when I was still in high school, I discovered a minimalist blog named Love Aesthetics. Ivania Carpio is the creator of this blog about fashion, photography and do-it-yourself projects, all with a consistent and unique style. I have been an active follower ever since. The appearance of this blog is ‘quality over quantity’ based; high-end fashion items are present as well as a healthy amount of handcrafted items, that are no less in relevance.
Last year the lifestyle brand Aetelier (short for ‘Love Aesthetics Atelier’) was established. Few designs of this brand, that carries the same ideals as the blog, are sold online. The selection includes one bag in two available colors, a notebook with exposed binding and a concrete-look blanket. An ‘under construction’ element is the self-explained signature of the brand. This refers to a concept of a creative space with open possibilities.
Over the years this blog and its branches have been influencing the forming of my own personal style and self-development. To this day I keep up to date with the blog via social media. This is the reason why I wanted to meet the woman behind Love Aesthetics. Unfortunately, our agendas did not collide within the given time span. Instead of meeting Ivania in person, I chose to let one of her designs speak on behalf of her.
I took the Aetelier ‘Flat Fold Bag’ to be the mediator for this design assignment. High-quality materials as leather, stainless steel and acrylic tube are used in the design. The signature element is found in the two hardware clasps that make the chain a continuous loop. The exterior of the bag is left visually clean by placing the zippers on the inside. This makes that the bag is a contemporary translation of Ivania’s need to keep this bag very minimalist.
This analysis resulted in a starting point for my design; it was now clear that I wanted to make a bag tailored to my own requirements. To have an insight into these requirements for a bag, I had to evaluate the bags I currently own and the items I wanted to fit in the bag. It became clear immediately that all of these bags and items are black. This is a result of my preference to dress all black, my carried accessories are no exception to this rule.
This preference, in combination with my forgetful nature, often causes a problem for me. Let’s say I am on a train and want to check if I did not forget my wallet at home. When I open my bag, I am looking for an optical confirmation of the presence of this wallet. Instead, because of the black on black, the outcome is panic by visual confusion. In this case, the initial scare is counteracted by touch; a quick pinch in the bag will tell if I am in trouble or not.
This haptic perception is the basis of the redesign. To amplify this existing movement all the items were given an own tailor made pouch. This way, all my valuables can be recognized by touch. The pouches are connected by a hardware clasp. The clasp binds the pouches as a whole and, when a strap is attached to the clasp, the bag can be easily carried. Alterations to the bag are easily achieved; pouches can be taken off or put back on, to the desire of the wearer.
After the first prototype was made, it was tested and evaluated. The basic shape and function of the bag were right but the haptic element loses strength when, upon first contact with a pouch, it is not immediately clear what corresponding item is touched. To avoid this confusion the haptic element needed to be extended. This was done by adding a specific material to a pouch that complements it content. A piece of leather was added to match my wallet.
In the meantime, I have tested this design approach on the items of my classmate Yuri. Her items and requirements are different than mine. This immediately opens up the possibility of adding back colors and different textures. To save resources, I used the kitchen towel that came with the bento box and some left-over material from my bag to construct this bag. The result is a tailor made lunch bag for her bento box and chopsticks.
The interim conclusion for this design process is positive in my opinion. Both the lunch bag and the bag for my personal use turned out substantially different than conventional bags. I think interesting steps are made in redesigning a personal bag. I would like to continue this project by looking into more individual needs and outcomes for this process since there was a lot of initial interest shown in this project from my classmates. A point of attention would be to experiment with different colors and materials to use the personalized potential of this tailored made bag to the fullest.
