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.

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.

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: