Laptop Shoulder Bag

I wanted to make a bag catered to students in university. I had tons of ideas but eventually settled on something doable in 2 weeks. I decided to make a laptop bag since laptops are a necessity mostly in university.

I researched on the different shapes and orientations of laptop bags available.

Related image
Fitted laptop casing
Image result for laptop bag
Laptop backpack
Image result for laptop bag
Laptop casing with prints
Image result for laptop bag
Laptop shoulder bag

I decided to make a laptop shoulder bag. Of course, I wanted to make it unique and different. I thought about how in ADM specifically, the students do not need their laptops everyday given that some of the mods do not require them on the daily. What if you still wanted to bring the laptop bag but without the laptop? Would it be too big and an unnecessary waste of space? Yes.

Thus, I made a size-shifting laptop bag.

Above are the initial sketches. The way the bag closes/opens into the different sizes is through its sides. I was inspired by an accordion. However, I realised that it was not exactly possible due to the rectangular shape of the base that would not match the zigzag pattern.

Thus, I re-sketched the open/close function.

[Insert image of sketches]

I started off with a plain cardboard which I then cut into 3 equal parts.

Then, I cut slits as seen above, on the top and bottom of the middle cardboard piece.

By sewing buttons through the slit and onto the rest of the cardboard pieces, the 3 parts are attached once again. This method allows for the pieces on the side to move side-to-side which expands the size of the bag vice versa.

After folding the 3 parts into a box, I cut a piece to be attached to the side to complete the box.

Full-sized bag

I wanted it to look sleek thus I painted it black. I also added a “hook” kind of thing at the sides for easier pulling of the sides of the bags when changing its size.

Of course, how can it be a laptop shoulder bag without straps? I used cardboard as well for the straps which I wrapped with batik material to add a little fun to the plain black bag.

And here’s the final outcome!

[Insert final picture]

Reflection:

 

Phone Dock x Speaker

Above are my initial sketches and ideation for my phone speaker “float” for pool parties which I had plan for. I was inspired by the images below. When I heard speakers, the first thought that came to my mind was party.

Image result for float    Image result for unicorn drink float

This was my first try-out mock-up:

The phone would be placed in the space in the centre. The measurements for this was so off. My phone could not even fit into it. It was also a little too square-ish for my liking. I learnt that I have to sand it more.

I divided the dock into 3 parts before piecing them together as seen in the image above. I used plastic-cut shapes which I pasted onto the foam to shape the different components into the rounded sort of shape (see below). The edges were soften through sanding.

My 2nd try:

I re-measured everything and it successfully held my phone in place. The edges are also much more rounded. If you did not notice, the design resembles the Nintendo Switch game console as seen below.

This was not intentional at all. My younger brother saw my foam piece and thought it resembled his game and sneakily coloured the whole thing with marker. *cries*

However, it dawned upon me that that idea was actually a good one. A game-console phone dock? You can play single or even multi-player games which would add to the party fun. Not only that, the joysticks are detachable which enables you to control the music anywhere you are in the area without having to lug around the whole dock.

Thus, I repainted and made the foam piece look a little more decent. Here’s the final look:

Reflection:

My ideas were bleak and very simplistic yet I did not change or improve them which I think was a big mistake for this project. I hope I will not bring forward this bad habit coming into project 2. Otherwise, I enjoyed the process of learning more about creating foam mock-ups.