Jackie week 7

This week we got together a photo shoot for the bag.  It went well.  I must say the team got the photo equipment set up and took some really great pictures.  The bag looks good, we have a product that we can sell.

Now we just need to sell some bags.  Using the photographs from Sundays shoot I started an Etsy store for Kraken Bags.  I have emailed the other group member the link to the Etsy store as well.  An indivudual email was sent out to the people who had filled out our survey about the bag.  In the email I thank people for the previous feedback and invite them to check out the bag on Etsy by attaching the link.  I also encourage people to let us know if they have any additional feedback about the bag.

The store:
http://www.etsy.com/shop/KrakenBags?ref=seller_info
https://www.etsy.com/listing/128783863/durabel-and-large-enough-to-hold-a?ref=shop_home_active

We explain that at the moment we are out of stock but happy to hold bags for people.  Currently the bag is priced at $70 with a 10% discount.  With the Etsy post we also hope to validate the price point of the bag.


What a week.  After adding all the numbers I got from Anthony, Huy, Yu-Yi and myself our expenses are a bit higher than expected.  As a result I have decided to step back from offering people free bags until I can figure out exactly how much we have spent on the current prototypes of the bag.  The next step for us will be to sit down and figure out the proper means of production.

Week 7 - Yu-Yi Chen

Hello Team,

This week,

We spent much time in AMT Lab to do a photo shoot of our product.

These photos are gonna be used on our website and other online shops for selling.

We took a lot of photos,

and here are a little of them:













Some life styles:







and now we are figuring out which photos are gonna be used.



Here are some other photos about our preparing before the shoot:



















Yu-Yi.

Anthony Week 6

Hey guys!

We have three prototypes right now that are 99% finished products. Our new seamstress did a great job on the prototypes but her current workload cannot handle any more work. Our patches for branding will hopefully be here today and yesterday I met with a manufacturer on 30th st. He quoted us $22 for the bare minimum (no pockets or shoulder pad) and said a zipper pocket will be easier and cheaper. He quoted $30 for as it is now as well as a $150 for first bag. I just received another quote from a place in Hoboken for $30 per bag and $50 pattern fee. So, the place in Hoboken is a little cheaper.

Here are pics of the latest prototype,

Week 6 - Yu-Yi Chen

Hi team,

Base on Jackie's suggestion,
I was trying to build the brand identity of our Kraken Bag during the break.
I'm trying to make our brand to be unique,
and I think that would be great if people can recognize our brand when they just see our bag.

Here are some examples:

And here is what I have so far:

The inspiration was from our logo:

The concept is just like our logo:
A great kraken using its tentacles holding a boat,
and my design is like a kraken holding  a skateboard.
I wanna make it as simple as I can and keeping the characters of our bag.
I'll keep working on brand identity for a while.
Need yours opinions.

YuYi.

Huy Nguyen week 6

Over spring break I created the wireframes for the first version of Krakenbags.com. I am not a web designer so it is taking me a little bit longer than planned, but if all goes well should have a live web site by next week, showcasing our product. Hopefully shortly thereafter we will be selling bags. Over break I was also given the chance to participate in a benefit art show for the Rockaway skatepark that was destroyed during hurricane Sandy. 

Jackie was the only one that was in town and she got to experience the diverse yet tight knit community of New York skateboarders first hand. There was a half pipe at the event space. It was a fun night and a piece of my art got auctioned off to help out the skate community (my piece of art was a laser cut version of the Kraken logo, turned into a box).

 While I was there, I got to rub elbows with Lennon, The Owner of Wam Pum Skateshop. They have two stores one in Manhattan and one in Bridgehampton. I talked to him for a minute about the bag and he was excited by the idea and wanted to see the final product. I did not get the chance to ask him to carry our product, but I do have his contact information, hopefully in the near future we can build a strong business relationship. Special thanks goes to Gordon Cousinos for giving me the chance to show my art and be an active member in the New York skate community.
I learned that we are not just selling a waterproof bag, we are selling a lifestyle. In particular a cross between skate and urban cycling cultures. I learned from our midterm presentations that we have to show and tell the story behind the product to sell it. In the next few weeks we will have a video introducing the Kraken Bag to the world. My goal this week is to have a photo shoot for our product, for online content and marketing. I will work with Yu-Yi to develop a product shoot this coming week, as well as create a storyboard for our online commercial. 

Jackie Week 6

This week I did some research about possible outlets to sell the skate bag.  I looked at how to sell at Brooklyn Flea and The Market NYC on Bleecker Street.  Both options are a little costly.  Brooklyn Flea charges venders between $120 to $225 for a day.  The Market NYC on Bleecker does offer a special deal of weekend participants, $180 for the  three days. They include: wifi, storage, tables and chairs, all we would need to do is bring our bags to sell.  While the prices are possibly doable I am more interested in pursuing these options with another group from class so the cost is less.  It will also require some advance planing to book the space, as well as actual product to sell.  

I also have a square card reader and account.  So we are ready for those mobile sales with credit cards.  Square takes 2.75% of the cost but there is no membership fee.  We can use my Employer Identification Number (EIN) for tax purposes.

During the break Huy had two art works up for auction at Skate Night presented by KCDC, VILLAIN, REDBULL, 5BORONYC in collaboration with the Skate and Draw Collective.  The entertainment of the evening was DJ Benrobey of Ninjasonic and Rob Bryn of Wild Yaks preforming a Solo Set.  The space even had a mini ramp set up!  The event was a benefit for the Rockaway Skatepark to be rebuilt.  

Experiencing the community around skateboarding culture was wonderful.  I even ran into a colleague form work.  She had previously interviewed a group of White Mountain Apache skateboarders for a documentary and was really surprised to learn about the sense of community and the prominence of art in skateboard culture.  So chatting with her at this event reinforced the sense of community I was seeing first hand.  I was also able to talk to a couple of skaters and tell them about our project and they are interested to see what we produce.  

The event got me thinking.  What if we donated a portion of the proceeds of the bag to help rebuild the skate park.  Huy and I talked about this at the event as well.  I think if we could donate about 25% (or more).  Part of my thinking behind the percentage we can donate is this: We came into this class without the goal of making a net profit of $1,500.  Any money we make after covering costs is bonus (and the goal).  If we are splitting the profits four ways each person takes away 18.75% vs 25% it is a differences of 6.25% that will allow us to donate 25% of profit to aiding the community that we are marketing towards.  Not to mention this will set us apart from other skate bags.  

I also took a look at NYSkateboarding.com to get a better understanding of what is going on in NYC skateboard culture on the internet.  I found that NY skateboarding has free stuff Fridays.  I would like to give them a bag to give away and tell them our story.  That we are making this bag as a class project.  The story of how it is inspired by Huy’s first hand experience.  That the bag is made in NYC and that we want to use the money we made to help the skateboard community rebuild in Rockaway.  

Some next steps will include photographing the bag and making some to sell.  We can also reach out to all the people involved in the Skate Night event.  

Jackie Week 5

This week I had a meeting with some one over at The Supply System.  It was a very insightful meeting.  I was able to learn a lot over coffee and tea in Brooklyn.  I got wonderful feed back about the bag that we are making.  More specifically the importance between form and function and the ability for that to set us apart from the rest.

I got great insight about what it really means to be made in New York.  Essentially people will pay more for products produced locally and perhaps it might be worth the time and effort to look into New York City factories.  Even though he acknowledged for such a small run of about 100-200 bags a factory might not be cost effective depending on our price break down.  I had not even realized there were still clothing factories in the city still.  There are and they are currently doing very well.

We talked extensively about process.  More specifically the way that my group was going to reach the goal of $1500 net profit.  It was very reassuring to hear that the gentleman I met with felt confident that we can easily hit the target.  He also suggested to spend more time out selling the bags using a square reader and putting together something that we might be able to give to retail markets.  The online angel is still a good one but because none of us in the group are web masters we will have to find some clever ways to E commerce on a budget, I am still leading towards etsy.  Another good outlet that had slipped my mind was to see about selling at places like Brooklyn flea.

My goals for this week are to see about NYC based factories, never hurts to make a phone call and see what is out there.  I also plan to get my square reader and make sure the account is set up properly as well as some receipt slips.  I will also investigate how to get into shopping events such as the Brooklyn flea and see what other market options we may have that are in line with New York City laws.