This is a functional laptop bag for young professionals, for use while riding public transportation. The bag opens to provide a safe and secure working platform. The bag lid stays vertical and protects the laptop from swinging backpacks, etc. in crowded situations. There are several compartments for notepads, chargers, and accessories. Two small pockets pull out from the side and can be opened in transit without opening the whole bag.
There is a gap between functional laptop bags and classical high quality fashion bags on the market today. This design bridges that gap.

This project was carried out with a company that produces laptop bags. I was asked to develop “a place for my stuff” – making the mobile workday more comfortable and easy. The brief that was given let us take a very broad approach. I was not limited to a specific form language and the company wanted ideas about new markets and very personalized concepts. To get a general knowledge about people’s thoughts about bags and items I gathered information with help of interviews and surveys. I found a market need looking into the group of people that commute with public transportation. I started to focus on this problem area. I found this group of people big enough to see a clear business opportunity. I found that a high percentage of people that are commuting in big cities are also young people who can’t afford an apartment in the centre of town and seldom have cars. This insight was in good agreement with the brief that wanted us to focus on young professionals in a mobile society.

The design brief I got from the company was very broad. I was supposed to create “a place for my stuff” – in some way find a solution to make the working day for young professionals a little more comfortable in a mobile environment. However, I didn’t have any form language to work with and I was supposed to find new markets and focus on a specific individual. Because of that I was able to start this project extremely open minded. I found a market need when looking on public transportation and problems around this field of transportation. However after research I saw that there is a gap on the market today between classical fashion bags and functional laptop bags. In some way this was the additional knowledge I used to make a successful design. To find a solution that creates a better experience for people that want to work with their laptop while they are commuting with public transportation was my main focus. However – because the client wanted us to find new markets and focus on specific individuals – I also fulfilled their interests with this approach. My product fulfills a need which can be very beneficial for both the company and the customer. However, I needed to spend more time figuring out the manufacturing process and material choice to be able to estimate the manufacturing cost and then the market price accurately.

The client wanted different ideas about new markets and very personalized concepts. However, to get a general knowledge about peoples’ thoughts about bags and items I gathered information with help of interviews and surveys. I found a need looking into the group of people that are commuting with public transportation. This became a limitation and I started to only focusing on this problem area. I founded this group of people big enough to see a clear business opportunity.

I researched the problem, regarding working with laptops on public transportation with help of field trips and interviews. I did materials exploration to get the right look and appeal my target group. Fashion research gave me information about color alternatives etc. However the final design is classic to be able to explain the function of the bag while allowing a variety of color and material choices.

The bag combines functionality with appealing design and protects all items in a secure way. The bag allows access to the laptop wherever you are and makes it easy to work efficiently on public transportation. The bag addresses comfort and ergonomics while working and creates a private sphere in crowded situations. This concept is first to address an untouched market need. This market is also increasing – more and more people are traveling by public transportation, and work is getting more mobile.

The product mainly uses recyclable materials and also has a long lifecycle. The construction is durable and it’s a bag made to be used every day.

The classical design combined with new features and iconic shapes makes a unique style. All different ways colors and materials can be combined make it possible to appeal many different categories of people with different tastes.

My concept has high usability and the bag has been used and tested by many different categories of people. The bag is also very right in time when a stronger focus on a sustainable society makes us travel with public transportation in a higher range all over the world. Cities are growing and public transportation is getting better and better in many parts of the world, at the same time that the rate of people using laptops or similar devices is increasing.