Material experimentation
Based on the plan in my last blog post, I created CAD models of the patterns that I wanted to try making with the fabric and magnets. I believe these patterns are both good to test this with since when folded they have obvious elevated points of contact which form the square and triangular patterns in the Huffman waterbomb and Resch patterns respectively (see photos below). These elevated areas provide a spot for the magnets to come in contact which I'm hoping will help control the fabric allowing it to fold as intended.
At the time of writing, the files are being printed and the fabric and magnets have not yet been purchased. I'm hoping that the files will be printed by next week and I plan to go buy fabric early next week as well.
Development of features
A lot of my time over the past couple of weeks has been spent brainstorming and refining the smaller features of the bag. Referencing the survey results, as well as existing bags on the market, I began to piece together what the most desirable features of a gym/work bag would be for users. I worked on refining the expandable area at the front of the bag, and functional details of the bag, such as the placement of the external pockets, straps, internal storage and the shoe pocket.
Modelling
As the project moves toward its final stages, I spent some time learning how to use Blender as I will be creating models and renders to mock up the final product. I decided Blender would be the best software for this project as I am trying to model a bag with many soft edges and irregular shapes and Blender includes many tools that aid in creating those shapes. Following this tutorial to create a coffee shop scene, I was able to get acquainted with some of the basic tools in Blender.
I began to apply some of the Blender knowledge I had learned to start creating a model of the bag. However, after beginning the modelling process, it became obvious that I still didn't know all of the right tools to create what I wanted. I was able to model the geometric Huffman pattern pretty well but struggled with the round and soft shapes of the bag.
Next steps
As mentioned earlier, I hope that by early next week, I will have the materials to create the magnet, fabric and 3D-printed prototype described above. I will continue to map out the specific features of the bag as well as delve more into specific material and hardware research. Finally, I plan to learn more skills in Blender as well as Procreate so that I can create a final render of the product using either or both of the softwares.
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