brengud-blog

[brengud-blog]

Chicken Noodle Soup.

Hey Everyone,

So this will be one of my final posts!

Im going to start with my advice for the next class.

My Fellow EDP friends. The time to design is short, so while thesis is still in the fluffy 3 tier phase take advantage of the downtime. Find something in a category of products that you want to learn more about. If you have the drive to learn about soft goods or metal casting, this is going to be the best time to gain that manufacturing experience. After all, this class is a tool for our later endeavors. I would also do some research on kickstarter, if you have an idea for a product, go take a look and see how many times its been done and how successful that project was. On a higher level, look at who published them and where they got press, as well as prices and materials. This will give you solid boundaries to work within. Finally, time your coffee runs because if you're not back from when Creighton expects you to be, you get the disappointed dad-core vibe and let me tell you, its no bueno.

So now for the more bloggy part. This class has been such a phenomenal learning experience. I'm leaving this class with more than Ive taken from any class. I really wanted to break into the world of soft goods and this was my opportunity. I think designing and apron was good middle ground of not being to simple, yet not extremely complex (Andy). I do think that in the future ill venture back onto kickstarter with another soft goods product, or some tool that dives into the maker community, not quite sure yet!

I have a much greater understanding of how to convey a feeling to an audience. On that note, I REALLY liked making the video. I had a blast going out to Indiana and making a stupid little side table all while thinking of framing, focal length and how I could tell my personal story as well as the aprons story. Learning to edit video taught me a new tool for conveying an idea and will without a doubt be useful in the future. I had an idea of a style of visualization that I wanted to use and I tired my best to learn it and having that freedom was really an amazing opportunity.

Ive really enjoyed going to professionals work spaces and getting a feel for how they work, getting a more in depth understanding of their design process and hearing them talk about their passion. Also the mixture of people who spoke the class was nice, it wasn't just people who've hit the jackpot on kick starer but people who are independently creating and making use of the platforms (Insta / kickstarer / the internet?) in a meaningful and creative way. (im looking at you Eric Trine)

One note for the second semester. As much as the business talk is important, I think you guys should space it out between first and second semester. Having a 3-4 hour discussion on business was fuckin' brutal. I think you could present it to next years class in 50 minute increments, allowing for better note taking and understanding, because after around an hour I just couldn't pay attention anymore and would start doodling.

O.K - The Iron Apron Timeline.

I should be getting my next sample back next week. With that ill be posting another short update for the backers to see the progress and the corrected details. With that final check, the final production run will BEGIN! It will most likely take a few weeks for production to be completed. Within that window of time ill be getting all the packaging and mailing details for the backers so that when I get the 50 aprons all i have to do it put them in their lil box. Ill also be making the 5 special rewards for the people who backed on the $100 reward category. Im still not quite sure what im going to be making them, I was thinking hooks to hang their aprons from but that seems like, "meh". Finally, I still have to punch around 30 more leather pieces. If you recall my strap dye bent on me. So ill have to whip out up before the shop is closed for the summer and I loose access to it. (super bummer)

Then I mail them out to all the lovely people who gave me money asking them to post on social media  (insta / facebook / twitter ) #IronApron so i can get a little bit of a look into people lives as well as possibly making a small community of people who can use that #.

Ted and Creighton, Thank you for everything, you guys are the best tag team I think Ive ever witnessed ( you guys should do a kickstarter together ). I’m looking forward to coming back next semester to see what your students are going to be putting out into the world.

[brengud-blog]

MHub

I was sick. I heard that it was sick-nasty, sad that I missed that one.

Who knows, I might work there post grad with the deal they got going on right now!  

[brengud-blog]

Student Pitch Competition

Hey-0. They really needed a graphic designer.

Lesson One: A good looking presentation can help you tell your story so so so much better! I guess that it is so engrained within us now, however, I didn’t realize the extent to which it aids the story of your product.

Lesson Two: Take a breath and for-sure don’t use stall words. Im blanking on his name at the moment, but he really made me notice how much an unpracticed / nervous presenter can easily slip into the “um” “right” and “uhhh” moments during a presentation. This was one of the most valuable lessons that I took from that competition.

Lesson Three: Weaving Data. I found that when it came time to present the data that would potentially support their ventures, it fell flat. It was either a lack of enthusiasm or the page felt disjointed. The wedding package people did a really great job of merging those numbers with their friends story, it made for a relatable and compelling moment no matter if your married or not.

General Lesson: I think that as ID people, we’ve been taught some of these skills subliminally over our 4 years. From the graphic presentation to the story and even now some of the business aspects of design, we have a great arsenal of tools to convince people to buy our shit.

I wonder who won!?

[brengud-blog]

Working Backwards Here: 

So, This post is about the one and only Monica!

She is, and I mean this in the best way, brutally honest.

Monica Told it like it is. From the conversation I take it she’s been though the ringer. I mostly got this impression when we were talking about emailing and press releases. I bet she's seen so many bad photos and poorly written emails, so I can understand why.  

When we were talking about what style of design she writes about and enjoys to publish, it was apparent that she just knew what she wanted. Which I think is incredible because theres so much out there to look at.  She knew where to find it and if she didn’t she knew the routes that lead to the places with the “hidden gems”. 

Having not written about this for a few weeks, her advice on photography made me want to push the kickstarter campaign photos further. By no means are my photos the best but I think it made me reflect on what Im trying to sell. A good photo is so much more than a product in front of a grey sweep. A good photo can capture feeling and essence of a product, what its trying to say to the person looking at it. I guess, she enlightened me as to the context in which a product is shot in. 

​#tags

[brengud-blog]

So, so behind on these

Hey! 

I wanted to write about our visit to the Cards Against humanity office. 

First off, i love that its in a really small building on the north side in this middle stage of industrial and residential area. I grew up running around over there and would have never thought that a company of that size was operating there. On that note, I thought it was rad that max and his peers are keepin’ it true to their roots. When Max was talking about his process I could tell that there was still genuine excitement to push the game to new boundaries. He was talking about the cynical and depressed ( not in a clinical sense ) style of humor we are living in now and I couldn’t help but reflect. I thought about the types of shows I watch and the content I look at online and it 100% matches those themes.

Overall, I think the most valuable bit of information was about the creation process for new expansions. Its about the experience around it all. The group of friends gets together and just critiques culture. What is important about that, to me, is not to take every idea to seriously. They scrap, rewrite and distill ideas from something rough in a way that I cant understand to the fullest extent. It has to be incredibly difficult and tedious to think about what cards people don’t know they want and will ultimately find funny. Their success was something that they would have never expected. This group of friends made something and wanted to share it with the world and in doing that learned a lot about a community and culture. Granted they are D&D dudes, so I guess they already had their foot in the door. 

No sketch notes this time! Maybe next time. 

Ps. That was a very comfortable couch. A nap was calling my name, but i fought it off in the face of learning. 

B

[brengud-blog]

Well then... This is next

Hey Everyone, 

So here is my situation, Dominique has all my materials, like everything that i need to do more photoshoots and for the presentation in two weeks. This is the part that scares me.  

I was thinking this over and doing some research on the right way to finish denim as well as looking at some other examples online. I found the method in which Dominique wanted to finish the edge wasn't the best and most durable way. She was going to do a surged edge, while this is a good way to start the finish it should be also hemed. It will make the seam look more clean and polished while also providing strength to the edge. 

So, what i was thinking was that i would buy a surger machine to make these myself. The task of surging the edge was in fact 1/4 of the work that actually needed to be done. If I wanted to make these the right way I would have had to pay almost double for Dominique to do that while I still cut everything myself. To shed some light on the cost that would be $20-ish per apron. Which would drive the material cost per apron up to $51. In comparison if i were to make these 50 aprons myself it would $31. (This is just one option)

If i could find a new seamstress to surge the edge for a reasonable price i could hem the edge myself to cut down the costs and reduce the stress on my hands. 

Just some options 

[brengud-blog]

Back to the grind then,

A little story here, so I dropped off the materials to Dominique and she was hyped to work, we settled on a good price for the aprons and I left with a positive mindset. But I got a text midday from her saying her surger broke and that she might not be able to work on the project for me. Back to the internet to find someone who can sew. I was thinking of reaching out to the Columbia fashion program and the UIC one as well to see if students would be willing to help me. Bummer but it happens.

[brengud-blog]

My Winter Break Promises Fulfilled

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/10788802/376804860?token=7959216b

I hope you like it!

[brengud-blog]

Eric Trine :

It was really awesome to hear from a person who makes for the pure joy of making “things”. The topic of manufacturing was awesome to hear because we had talked about it a fair amount on the beginning of the class, find what you can work with and get creative.

It was sad to hear about Instagram changing their algoritim and it hurting his views, but he sounded a little positive about it. From what he lead me to believe is that his business is growing and he is becoming slightly less dependent on Instagram as a mean of promotion (however its always good to get more promotion.)

The shipping story was kinda scary, paying thousands of dollars to move a bunch of metal half way across the globe and then it breaking and having to do it again, ooh boy.

Overall, It was awesome to hear from Eric, I learned a few valuable bits of knowledge that i can hold on to!

[brengud-blog]

Gaetano Pesce

I stole Lauren's photo - stole like an artist. 

I regret to admit that the temperature and lighting of the room in combination with Pesce’s soothing voice cradled me right to sleep. From what I heard, he had some really great work and told good stories about is time in the field but was mildly sexist.

sorry for falling asleep, his voice was nice. 

[brengud-blog]

Hey guys, 

so last week i was talking about the intro to my video and i was thinking that i want this “style” of sketchiness to be the theme of the video. Like hand written and animated while embracing the imperfections that come with hand making things.

Just a random post here. 

See you all tomorrow! 

[brengud-blog]

Hey It's me, Reporting in: Dominique has good quality, and its willing to take on the project. I've posted 2 photos, one of the sample I got back from her today. The other is the final pattern. I have some nylon webbing in the mail along with 2 different types of clips and d rings for me to make a final decision. when I spoke to Dominique she recommended I use the material to make the straps instead of the nylon, which I think I might end up doing for color continuity. I hope to make the final prototype soon, almost have all the materials! Hopefully the rest of this goes smoothly!

[brengud-blog]

more, more and just a little more

hey, its the weekend and i haven’t stopped working at all.

Im really sweating the human element to this project. The journey to find a seamstress is proving to be more difficult than expected.

So, the update, I’m so close to dropping this seamstress. She hasn’t been responding to some of the messages I’ve sent. Her saving grace might be her quality, but I’m losing my patience with her. She’s not acting in a professional manner and it is driving me away from her service.

The positive note is that i went to the fabric store to get some fabric for the final prototype used in the video and body pictures. While I was there I asked the owner if he knew any good seamstresses in the area. He said no, and said they all left the city. However he did turn me on to the “Chicago Apparel Center” which has contracted seamstresses all over the city. Ill be contacting them on Monday to ask for their list of contractors. This is exactly what i was looking for in the begging, but I’m happy i found it now!

This Shop also has a 12oz olive denim for a good price that i might source from him for the final. he’s got a 100yards with my name on it!

For now, Ive finalized the design and all the measurements  so i can send it to the contracts for Monday.

[brengud-blog]

Whats Up?

So, Ive been up to quite a bit for the last 2 weeks

 To start, I dropped off some material to Dominique, the seamstress who will be (possibly) making the aprons. I wanted to test her quality and get a sense of how many she can do.

After a short conversation with her, The plan will be for me to cut out the aprons and pockets with a template and bring them to her, she will then surge them up and sew on the pockets and straps.

Hopefully Ill be getting the sample back early next week. Its not olive denim but it’ll let me know if i need to move on to a different seamstress or not.

Lastly, I’m going to draw up a small contract with her to protect her and myself in this transaction.

For materials:

The Apron is going with a 12 OZ dark olive denim with dark red / Light Brown or Grey polyester / nylon straps for the shoulders. Deciding on this is one of the last steps in the finalized design. I’m also looking to make the tool holders/ loops out of the nylon as well.

I found the world of suspender clasps that are matte black and would work well for holding tension on the towel.  They are going the be placed on the front of the apron, not tucked away  on the sides - If I were to do that they would have to dangle when pulled out and the tension of the towel would be compromised.

lastly is the back cross strap holder, i think ill be making it out of leather, im going to have to find the shop to sell me a decent chuck of leather, ill either hand cut of lazercut it out

Ill be posting some pictures soon!

[brengud-blog]

$6

Hey everyone. So I've been calling around to see some prices for getting the apron made and a lot of the shops were telling me that they would have to fit it into their other projects and that it might not work. BUT I found this seamstress Dominique who was super excited to work with me, likes the story of the design, has all the machines needed, and knows where I can source some of the materials. Her total estimate for the labor of each apron was $6. From what I've seen so far price wise this is a really good deal! More to come later when our conversation has developed further.

[brengud-blog]

Hey everyone! I'm getting pretty excited over sketch notes. I feel like I'm getting better at small illustrations on the fly. Looking forward to the next few guest lectures to see what I can do. As for Lost Arts, his use of swearing was pretty on point... I really liked his approach to starting a business. It's so organic and reflects a new style of design thinking and prototyping for businesses. He's got a great idea and is taking a unique foothold in the industry. I think the idea of building a catalog of stories is what he's after, having creative people doing creative things in a creative space that is communal (it makes some sense). I tried to tell my roommate about it and he thought it was like a maker space that had more tools and space for a gallery. I think In the future his vision will be explored further and all the small details we'll be fleshed out and he'll be left with this creative community behind him. Time to find some good ideas for the future so I can work there! 10/10 studio visit.

[brengud-blog]

The pitch.

So, this is when it gets hard. How am i going to try to sell this. 

Firstly, one of the biggest fears is that the price of these aprons will be high and i wont be able to provide enough features to make the cost worth it. (just a fear though and i’m working on finding good, strong and cost effective materials to use.) 

The story of how i arrived at the idea. My mom wearing the bright red apron while cooking next to my father who had towel swung over the shoulder. I wanted to combine the cooking styles of both my parents into a singular product. While designing the product I (am) was focusing on function ( specifically on the towel section) to enhance the usability of the apron. I wanted the cloth on the front to be an enhancement to the working process while in the kitchen and the wood shop or wherever you need it. I am juxtaposing the materials of denim and terrycloth to emphasize how you can let some materials get dirty before really needing to wash them. I want a durable product that people are going to learn with and use in all types of situations. 

To be refined later!