Client: Esenses (Colombia) / Project developed with the Curve ID Design Team

The goal of this project was to develop a design strategy  and product collection for  Esenses  brand.  Understanding the competitive challenges that come along with expanding the business towards other countries,   the design team had to generated a Product strategy to compete with innovative collections across USA, Europe and  South American companies.

The project was divided in 2 collections using one selected  iconic structural design.  Each collection have (12 Skus). 8 SKUS were provided by Esenses, 4 SKUS  suggested by Curve ID coming from research and consumer insights. At the end of the project, the company had material for 2 collections that was launched in 2013. 

Identifying a Brand DNA

The history of the project began by approaching design trends in the global market for backpacks and digital devices. BeDigital had never designed their own products before, so this was an initiation point for the brand, as well as an opportunity for the design studio in charge to start with a clean slate…a brand DNA.

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Guidelines for unique design

As part of a strategic transformation of BeDigital S.A./Esenses from being an importer and distributor of digital accessories and backpacks to the Colombian market, to becoming a company that develops specifically designed products capable of competing with international brands.  The design process was the 9 products in the collection took about a year.

During the Research phase, we made a series of interviews with teenagers and young adults in Colombia and the US to obtain the characteristics that would guide the design.  The discovered characteristics were cleanliness, ergonomics and security. So the design proposal was based on the internal structure of the products to accomplish, thought modularity, flexible compartments that can have multiple purposes like featuring the articles stored in the bags.

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“I TRUST the materials and they need to perform well across different weather conditions, I ride in a raining day, sunny morning, windy afternoon, I ride all the time”

Benchmark:

To understand and select different brands that are currently in the market, the brands were analyzed around users, the emotional, utility and economic reasons to purchase them.  

It was important to have a general overview to localize the possible position of these brands in a bigger picture. Which brands are relevant as direct competitors, what can it be learned from their business mission, understanding a broader list of companies competing in the European, USA and Latin-American market.

The main focus of the User Interviews was to understand initially the Latin consumer, but the long term conclusions of this research allowed designing an aggressive and innovative line to expand in international arenas. All users were asked to answer a basic questioner about their current bag, in order to identify purchase decisions, emotional, technical and economic reasons to buy the products, and ultimately to suggest new features that they will like to see in the upcoming products.

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“Totto bags are really cute and nice, and they are strong to carry the heavy books for school.

I change the bag every year,  at the beginning of school”

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“I don’t like synthetic fibers,  felts is perfect has a natural feel and is water resistant”

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“I like the bag because doesn’t look like a computer bag, goes well during the week and for the weekends”

The discovered characteristics were cleanliness, ergonomics and security. So the design proposal was based on the internal structure of the products to accomplish, thought modularity, flexible compartments that can have multiple purposes like featuring the articles stored in the bags. One of the defining factors of this product line is the idea of a portable workstation in the Techbag.

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Initial Design guidelines

The goal was to use a design style that communicates function and performance in order to improve the storage of digital devices in the Colombian market. The whole process took about a year; during which, 9 products were developed using the different design phases: research, concept development, refinement, evaluation and final production.

Being colorful