Tom Bihn's Bag Design Process

Photo of the Tom Bihn factory in Seattle

Tom Bihn has been designing and making bags for well over 20 years. Here he shares with us his design process.

The design process is always evolving and varies from one bag to the next. The constant operating principal behind the process is this: I don't want to make something that is already out there. It has to be unique - work better, look better, last longer, fills a niche that no one else has filled. I keep in mind that, because our products last (almost) forever, I have a responsibility to make them be very useful and as handsome as possible as well: I personally don't like being around things that are not please to the hand and eye, especially on a semi-permanent basis. I feel in a small way like an architect.

For some bags, like the Synapse, the process is driven more by my desires and ideas than by some external criteria or market demands: I had for some time wanted to make a bag like the Synapse and I saw that we might be able to sell some too. I opened the process up on the forums and certainly Darcy was instrumental in giving her feedback as she used the various prototypes, but I always had an idea of what the bag would look like, how it would work and how big it would be. It took so long because, as is often the case with my design process, I would run into a design cul-de-sac and the project would just have to sit with it for a while.

Especially for something as new and unique as the Synapse, the Design Muse is a river it does no good for me to push. Think of it as writer's block but in three dimensions.

The Tri-Star was driven more by customer feedback. We heard how the Aeronaut wasn't working for some people and then figured how best to address those points: would a modified Aeronaut work or would it have to be a whole new design?

In this case we wanted a bag that had the features that we all loved in the Aeronaut, like the end grab handles and the hide-away backpack straps, but that could also accept a Brain Cell to carry a laptop. I had often thought of a bag with three parallel compartments as an effective way to provide additional protection to a computer (packing the laptop in the center compartment); waking up one morning, I realized the water bottle pocket from the Smart Alec might be a cool addition. And at that point the Tri-Star really came together, and was clearly destined to be a whole new product.

As far as the actual process goes, it involves both 2-D and 3-D sketches, models, both hand drawn/made and CAD work as well. And prototypes - sometimes many, many prototypes. Often sewn by me, but sometimes sewn by my lead seamstresses - Lisa and Phong - in the Seattle factory. The rest? That's top secret.

- Tom Bihn

Tom Bihn bags are renowned for their quality and durability, they truly do "last (almost) forever".

This article originally appeared in the October Tom Bihn Newsletter under the title "Can you describe to us how you design a bag?", they were gracious enough to allow me to reproduce it here. Every month they will be running a regular feature where Tom will answer customer questions gathered from their website and Facebook communities. It looks like a great series. You can subscribe to their newsletter here.

Tom Bihn Bags

Tom Bihn's Bag Design Process

Photo of the Tom Bihn factory in Seattle Tom Bihn has been designing and making bags for well over 20 years. Here he shares with us his design process. The design process is always evolving and varies from one bag to the next. The constant operating principal behind the process is this: I don't want to make something that is already out there. It has to be unique - work better, look better, last longer, fills a niche that no one else has filled. I keep in mind that, because our products last (almost) forever, I have a responsibility to make them be very useful and as handsome as possible as well: I personally don't like being around things that are not please to the hand and eye, especially on a semi-permanent basis. I feel in a small way like an architect. For some bags, like the Synapse, the process is driven more by my desires and ideas than by some external criteria or market demands: I had for some time wanted to make a bag like the Synapse and I saw that we might be able to sell some too. I opened the process up on the forums and certainly Darcy was instrumental in giving her feedback as she used the various prototypes, but I always had an idea of what the bag would look like, how it would work and how big it would be. It took so long because, as is often the case with my design process, I would run into a design cul-de-sac and the project would just have to sit with it for a while.