Robert Heyes VS MFA Thesis 2009
ROHE - Designing a Bag
In this thesis, I examine the development of a product, an urban commuter bag, to the prototype stage while considering key elements of branding and positioning in relationship to the target audience of the new upper class – Bobos. Furthermore, I review the challenges that occur for me as a designer, working digitally, to integrate a new mode of creation – craft – in my process of working, while considering the main principles of design thinking. By investigating the historical background of the evolution of bags and the influences and currencies design have on the making, the thesis merges ideas from design with principles from branding. While being a design object, the bag prototype also is a response to a western society that always seems to be on the move and ready to function. Through the use of illustration, communication design and installation, my work shows the visualisation of the concept of creating a modular prototype of an urban commuter bag, that also is viewed as an organism in terms of materiality and structure. The work functions as a starting point for further investigations in terms of marketing strategies, brand building and material optimization. It is the goal of the thesis to visualize the concept of the commuter bag to a stage of understanding by the viewer, leaving room for interpretation.