Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Ideation, Thought Process

Over the past couple of weeks or so we have been spend our time thinking through some of our initial ideas. Our first round of ideas seemed a little too impractical for what we were trying to achieve, so we took pieces from those ideas and made them into something workable. I would say we have 3 concrete ideas that we think we are going to push forward.

The first (not in order of pictures below) would be our glove idea. We were thinking something that would be fashionable yet still provide the functionality of being a cyclist. A cycler needs to be seen at night and the more reflective gear and lights you have, the better. We were playing around with a solar idea, which was in our impractical idea but still interesting to think about. From there we were thinking about different cool ways in which we could incorporate visibility into these gloves. Also we designed this longer looking glove to resemble the the opera glove but in a weather gear sense. We are still trying to pick the best options for the functionality of the glove.

Second, we are working on a rain coat for women cyclist. This rain coat again must incorporate visibility for the cycler as well has providing a water proof or resistant function. We are trying to decide what works best for looks as well as function. We were playing around with the idea of it some how covering your upper let. We are looking at the issue of movability in the raincoat while on the bike. A fitted hood is an idea that we thought would be useful for cyclist since wearing a regular hood as it is blocks your peripherals. Something we think is cool for this type of fashion is hiding the fact that your wearing cycle gear. Like on the rain coat we are thinking of making the reflective material unzip out of the sleeve.

Next we are working on a larger bag. Something that could fit a woman's entire day, or at least most of her needs into this bag. The bag would be a purse that transitioned into a messenger bag. This function is still not completely worked out but we have been playing with a few ideas. Maybe the whole strap for the messenger style comes off and you use the handles of the purse. Or maybe the strap for the messenger looks good both across the chest as it does thrown over your shoulder. Along with this larger bag idea we are thinking of incorporating some type of easy detachable smaller bag, maybe a clutch or a tool kit. This way your essentials are easy accessible for you to do quick choirs with out you having to rummage through the larger bag.

One last idea that we were playing around with was this idea of a shoe cover. Something that would fit around a woman's high heel maybe. The idea seems like a plausible one but we think that the aesthetics of it might not make this work.













































After sending these to Emily at Po Campo she seemed to like where our ideas were headed. She expressed interest in our designs. She gave us some good feedback and gave us some good direction. We are going to take the feedback and rework some of these ideas to further our process.









Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Woman Insight/ Competition/ Observation

Over the past couple of weeks we have been looking into other companies to see where other companies are at as far as their women's market. Just from the initial look one can already see the shadow that men have in the industry of cycling. Research has shown that men will cycle 3 times more than women. This is a big chunk of people to not offer products to. On the other hand Po Campo's main goal seems to be encouraging women to bike more and more by making it more convenient and stylish. They want to make it empowering to women and this may mean that by not entering the male market, it may make it even more empowering for a woman to ride.

Right now Po Campo only has 2 styles of bags with roughly 3 prints for each. The are sold in 12 different locations in Chicago (Rapid Transit, Smart Bike Parts, and more), 1 in Denver, and 2 in Seattle. (15 total). Emily and Maria and the founders of this Chicago based company, who graduated from the University of Illinois.

- Sustians has launched Bikebelles, a website exclusively for women cyclists. This website is to inform women how to stay safe, get started, and stay in fashion.

- Check out Knog Gekko bike lights.

- Sackville Shop Sack - has a Banana Rep. esque feel to it. They use fabric used for rain and sun protection used in Range Rovers.

- Cyclodelic Messenger Bags - use cordura for their outer fabric

- "I don't dress in cycling gear on my way to work because i don't want people to look me as someone who is a cyclist, because it will turn people away." as in wearing street clothes gives off the impression that anyone can do it.

- DOYOUelo - French website for cycle fashion (men and women). Personally don't think they look very practical

- Swrve - make pants for men and women

- Outlien - make men's pants (Schoeller Dryskin - 80% nylon, 10% poly, and 10 spandex)

The thoughts of a woman cyclist:

-Takes clothes to change into at work.

-Uses backpack to carry her items and sometimes straps the backpack to the back of her bike to prevent back sweat.

-Takes a wash cloth and soap to do a mini bath so that she isn't all sweaty and smelly.

- "Women carry more shit around then men in general. We are going to need more space."

- Things often carried: lunch, clothes, shoes, and "work" for the day.

- Thinks that a tool kit for more serious bikes is a must. Something that could stay with the bike.

- Find a good place to put the bike lock.

- "Just because they are for women doesn't mean they are for all women."

observations and thoughts


Over the past week we have gone out and have been trying to see how people are riding there bikes while carrying there bags amongst other things. We have observed a great amount of the same type of stuff, home made milk crate and bungee racks, along with bags that are made for the bike and and get the job done and do the job well but could use a little "flare".... So we think we are to a point to start getting a little more inquisitive with cyclist and we have begun coming up with some rough question for a survey. An idea that is in the works with the surveys, is that there will be two different surveys. One will be for the more prominent riders and then the other will be more for the casual rider. In the surveys we will be trying to find out what people are looking for in there bike accessories and trying to find out what has worked for them in the past and what has maybe failed. Then with all the information that has been collected we can start to visualize products and start roughing out some models.

Saturday, September 12, 2009

Some competition and some related blog links.... i don't know if this is a good or bad idea but what I'm thinking is if we look at bikes and regular apparel for bikes and the riders first. We can then start to think about the fashion because we need to know why cyclist wear what they wear and then we can design around those stipulation and make some nice fashion able products.... Side note bags are one ave. on this project i think there are a lot more options in accessories and maybe rain gear, or even helmets.
londoncyclechic.blogspot.com/2009/06/another-addition-to-womens-cycling.html
www.rivbike.com
www.cyclodelic.co.uk/
www.eurobike-show.de/eb/supporting-programme/eurobike-fashion-show.php?lg=en