Smthn
Self-Initiated Product Journey: From Concept to Customer in One Year
This fast-paced, hands-on experiment began as a self-initiated project and evolved into a fully launched product within a year. Crowdfunding served as the key strategy, successfully raising $30,000 in just 40 days. With a two-person team, we delivered over 1,000 bags across India.
Throughout the journey, I gained end-to-end exposure to product development and brand building—navigating challenges in manufacturing, distribution, customer support, and iterative redesigns to fix issues. I also took the lead on brand video direction, web and e-commerce design, and storytelling.
Who are we designing for?
Through market research and customer persona development, we identified a clear opportunity for innovation: versatile urban overnighter backpacks tailored to the needs of a fast-paced, multitasking generation.
Learning from scratch - prototyping to product
Developed the concept through an iterative design process, starting with paper models and progressing to fully stitched mockups in collaboration with suppliers.
Sourcing and vendor development
Identified and worked with manufacturers, while also designing and producing custom hardware components in-house to meet design goals within budget constraints.
Money matters : Crowdfunding journey
With limited resources for manufacturing and marketing, we turned to crowdfunding and it became an incredible learning experience. From creating campaign content to personally following up with each customer and lead, we gained hands-on experience in customer service, lead generation, and grievance resolution.
Check out the campaign video here: https://vimeo.com/259552246
Behind the scenes: The campaign
To bring the product story to life, we collaborated with fellow designers and artists to create a high-impact campaign video—where we took on the roles of actors, directors, and crew ourselves.
Shot in just 36 hours to minimize equipment rental costs, the video was a true labour of love and creativity. It became the heart of our campaign, resonating strongly with the audience and playing a key role in the product's success. It truly was 'something'.
Product v1 & deliveries
A moment of pride came with the launch of our first production-ready product. We navigated the end-to-end delivery process, setting up distribution channels, managing logistics, and addressing product recalls. Rapid iteration allowed us to redesign and promptly deliver an improved version.
Unique concept : A bag that moulds itself to the stuff it holds
The idea was simple yet effective, a backpack designed for both daily use and travel. For everyday needs, it functions like a regular backpack with easy zip access. When traveling, it expands to accommodate clothes and essentials without crumpling them, while still wrapping the contents snugly for a compact, organized carry.
E-commerce
Built and managed our e-commerce platform while simultaneously setting up physical kiosks at events to drive direct customer engagement.
Smthn 2.0 : Complete re-design
While continuing our design consultancy, we dedicated nearly a year to rethinking the brand and developing two new products. We relaunched through physical kiosks and an upgraded e-commerce store. The new collection attracted interest from a leading e-commerce player for potential acquisition.
Watch the product video here: https://vimeo.com/376801600
