Crafting Custom Made Record Tote Bags for Stay-loose Records
For years, our expertise has revolved around designing an array of custom tote bags and backpacks tailored to various businesses. However, the intriguing prospect of creating a specialized tote for vinyl records surfaced when we connected with Ian, the proprietor of Wolverhampton's beloved Stay-loose Records, nestled in the heart of the city center.
This unique project materialized during a networking event spearheaded by Jay Blades, a gathering intended for local creatives and entrepreneurs. It was here that our paths crossed with Ian, initiating discussions about the nuances of running a record store and the broader challenges of sustaining a business.
From casual conversation to conceptualization, our journey commenced. In the midst of our dialogues, Ian and his partner identified a potential solution to their clientele's needs: a custom carry solution for large and medium-sized vinyl records. Sourcing quality carrier bags that accommodate these records comes with a price and printing variations, prompting us to delve deeper into crafting an ideal record tote bag brief that fulfills Stay-loose Records' and their customers' requisites:
The project timeline spanned a week for crafting preliminary samples. Presenting Ian with these prototypes allowed for firsthand testing and feedback. Delighted with its versatility, he attested to its seamless transition from a gym bag to a shopping tote capable of not only holding records but also accommodating bottles of wine and bags of produce during his daily commute.
The Production Phase
With the testing phase concluded and necessary adjustments incorporated, the production phase commenced. The manufacturing process, contingent on bag type and quantity, typically varies in duration. For the Stay-loose tote bags, maintaining a simplistic design for the 100 custom units initially estimated two weeks but pleasantly concluded within a working week, surpassing our own expectations.
The production stages unfolded as follows:
In response to specific requests, finishing touches such as swing tags and clear plastic packaging were meticulously added. Every project undertaken serves as a learning curve, enhancing our sewing techniques and providing insights applicable to subsequent endeavors. Notably, altering the vinyl printing method and refining our approach significantly contributed to the project's success, along with meticulous attention to detail.
Adhering closely to the brief, we streamlined the bag design, optimizing production costs while upholding superior quality. This entailed minimizing components and utilizing premium, water-resistant, and durable fabrics. The positive customer feedback reinforced our commitment to delivering beyond expectations, a testament to our ability to elevate a store's identity through custom-designed, perfectly tailored tote bags.
The Value Proposition
The culmination of this endeavor carries substantial value for Stay-loose Records. The custom tote bags not only provide a practical solution for customers carrying their purchased records home but also serve as an enduring, dependable accessory. This continual use fosters an organic form of advertising, fostering customer-brand loyalty that extends far beyond a mere transaction. It solidifies Stay-loose Records' position with a range of bespoke tote bags that encapsulate both utility and style.
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Sometimes Zippers Are Not The Answer
Over a decade ago, my journey as a novice sewer began, wrestling with the complexities of incorporating zippers into bags. What once seemed an insurmountable challenge has evolved into a skillset honed over years spent alongside industrial sewing machines, effortlessly crafting products adorned with various closures. Despite this mastery, my belief in seeking alternative bag-closing solutions persists, steering away from integrating zippers into designs.
Responding to customer requests, our recent foray into developing new carry products featuring zippers marks an intriguing phase. In this exploration, we delve into a myriad of speculative reasons, considering factors ranging from our brand ethos to invaluable customer feedback and the intricacies of manufacturing. The decision-making process involves a blend of these elements and potentially unforeseen aspects that shape the seamless integration of zippers into our products.
Safety Concerns: Depending on customer uses a zipper can become caught by body parts , Hair fingers etc or small items. Plus zippers can pose a choking hazard, especially for younger children who might inadvertently pull them off and put them in their mouths. .
Sustainability at the Core
At Goodstart Jones, sustainability is paramount. We prioritize simplicity and durability in our bag designs, aiming for longevity without compromise. Zippers, with their tendency to eventually fail, contradict our pursuit of enduring products. However, when we do integrate zippers, we meticulously select top-quality hardware and ensure ease of access for repairs or replacements. Our ultimate objective remains keeping our products in use for extended periods, aligning perfectly with our sustainable ethos.
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After weeks of discussions and a rigorous round of evaluating and re-evaluating scores, the OnePlus Design team, and the Judgement by our community voting
8 months later he along with 9 other designers in various filled of expertises were announced the winners out of 6,000 participants.
Big congratulations for Anson and the 8 other winning finalists of the OnePlus TV Design Contest.
OnePlus TV - Concept Anson
"I have been a OnePlus user since the OnePlus One and have found the evolution of the products fascinating! From "Flagship Killer" to a full-on flagship. What attracted me to the brand originally was that OnePlus seemed to genuinely listen to what their customers and supporters wanted...
"I firmly believe that a TV should enhance the beauty of our living rooms irrespective of whether it is on/off, moreover, it should also work in sync with other smart devices. Hence, the top of the TV can also charge all supported devices wirelessly. Even the remote!
The idea with OnePlus Alpha is, it becomes an extension of other smart devices all while having an identity of its own. Having integrated OnePlus's burden-less philosophy with the Alpha, it offers seamless connectivity and unparalleled design that isn't only beautiful to look at but also extremely functional.
So there you have it… not just a talented bag designer but also flexing his Product design experience and skills to produce a problem solving design solution with a visually pleasing style.
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This versatile tote is perfect for any occasion, whether you're running errands, heading to the office, or meeting friends for lunch. The durable and spacious design can easily hold all of your essentials, from your laptop and work documents to your water bottle and snacks.
One of the standout features of the Good Day Tote Bag is its sleek design. The bag is made from high-quality, vegan-friendly leather and is available in a range of colors to suit any personal style. The minimalist design is both timeless and on-trend, making it the perfect accessory for any outfit.
The Good Day Tote Bag is also designed with your comfort in mind. The long handles make it easy to carry on your shoulder, and the lightweight design means you can carry it around all day without any discomfort.
Goodstart Jones is committed to sustainability and social responsibility, and the Good Day Tote Bag is no exception. The bag is made with environmentally-friendly materials and is produced in a socially responsible factory.
In short, the Good Day Tote Bag from Goodstart Jones is the perfect choice for anyone looking for a stylish and functional bag. Whether you're running errands, heading to the office, or meeting friends for lunch, this versatile tote will help you look and feel your best. Order yours today!
]]>We simply listened to customers… Thats how we created the New Good Day tote bag.
To my colleagues, entrepreneurs and designers. Please give your audience, especially those who have purchased your stuff, some opportunity to speak. Treat the counsel they offer as valuable knowledge that you didn't have to pay for from market research, consultants and surveys. Data is need but word of mouth is from customer experience is vital to create the products people actually want. Its good business that makes everyone a winner.
]]>We simply listened to customers… Thats how we created the New Good Day tote bag.
We are grateful for every sales we receive. Yet we also appreciate the feedback from customers because it’s their suggestions and comments both positive and negative that helps us form the details of new designs and dictates what we need to crate next.
In fact the true influence in creating the GoodDay Tote bag, was a large source of inspiration came whilst trading the We Out Here festival whilst selling our custom tote bags and woodsacks.
The compliments we fantastic from both brewers and buyers of all ages. However the same comments did pop up. “Do you have Any bags with a zip?”
To which our reply was a simple kind nope. And we would go on to explain our reason because we don’t find adding zippers to our simple tote bags as a viable practical solution neither do they aline with our view in sustainability. Once the zipper brakes our business will be blamed, But we didn’t make the zipper.
Plus the second question was “Do you sell any bags with inside pockets? To which we would say “nope” as our answer too. However this time I couldn’t justify a correct answer other than the tote bag is a large pocket anyway, designed for your to organize with addition accessories and have a flexible large interior space.
During a talk around the camp fire that night with a customer whom found us at outside the tent, whom pleaded his case that an extra pocket for his sweets and drinks.
I decided it couldn't harm to provide the consumers what they desire by creating an internal pocket after looking into the matter when we get back to the workshop.
Let me tell you something after testing and making adjustments. I can honestly say that having a medium deep interior pocket within a tote bag is a big game changer. It's added another level of practicality to the bag making it even more flexible in its uses. Hence the name Good day tote, because while out testing we had nothing but good feelings whilst using this tote bag for the whole day.
I wish we had done this earlier. It's a wise decision. The fact that customers have now given their new Good Day tote bags excellent ratings and the stamp of approval is most significant, as evidenced by the recurrent sales and no returns.
Because those previous clients hindsight, have now provided me a true turning point to adding a few pockets into our tote bags. I’m regret being obstinate and not paying attention sooner to their suggestions and requests.
To my colleagues, entrepreneurs and designers. Please give your audience, especially those who have purchased your stuff, some opportunity to speak. Treat the counsel they offer as valuable knowledge that you didn't have to pay for from market research, consultants and surveys. Data is need but word of mouth is from customer experience is vital to create the products people actually want. Its good business that makes everyone a winner.
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As a bag designer and maker, I believe most people need more than just one bag to do everything in life.
However, as a practicing minimalist I also believe in the idea of maybe owning just one bag that is multifunctional could also be a good solution. Owning a tote bag is an ideal start to try this idea. But it almost requires addition features to achieve that solution.
After reading an article from Vice about How pointless the majority of basic simple tote bags given away for free can be utterly useless and a waste of resources to make and damaging to the environment yet alone your possessions inside and the damage to your posture.
When you start looking into the average usual tote bags given away as marketing freebies they generally seem to be a bit of a hit and miss.
After al that, despite the flaws stated in the article people still are determined to put up with a subpar useless tote bag because it's free and don't have to worry about looking after it. Once it rips or gets dirty its can be binned without any guilt.
Speaking as a bag maker, from a design point they just seem to do a basic task well which is to carry your stuff. The basic cotton tote fail to look after the stuff you placed inside.
I do believe in the simple tote bag. Just Not in the flimsy cotton ones we've discussed. I have come up with some general thoughts and requirements to consider when given or buying a tote bag. Ideally people generally look for the following features:
It's worth noting that people might also look for specific features depending on their intended use, for example, if they want a tote bag for the beach, they might look for a waterproof material.
Tote Bags Design Thoughts by Goodstart Jones Approach
When designing anything carry-related, the goal is to address a problem for a certain sort of person or purpose.
It must also be cost effective to manufacture as well as cost effective for the intended buyer.
Finally, it should be created with quality in order to be sturdy and long lasting in both construction and timeless style for years to come.
I like to think that all of the tote bag lines we manufacture here at Goodstart Jones match our above-mentioned goals.
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The team and I have finally figured out how to run a website and try to grow our small business for the better.
In order for us to better serve you and provide you with the greatest discounts, we have created the items you are searching for to best satisfy your needs. We've chosen to test utilising pop-ups to collect your email address and phone number. In exchange, we vow to send only a few email notifications during the year.
Plus, to sweeten the bargain, we will provide you with: Giveaways. Yes, simply by joining up, you have entered our competitions and raffles for the opportunity to win a free bag.
In addition, we supplied discount coupons for money off a variety of our bags.
And access to our new sample area, where you may buy from the idea creations we made but never launched.
I hope this clarifies why certain pop-ups and ads ask for your information on across the website. I guarantee that we will keep your information private and never share it with third parties.
So, may we count you in and add you to our VIP list?
]]>When things go wrong and we run out of answers, it isn’t always the text books and calculators that we turn to. Music, works of art, and poetry bring us comfort and help us manage many of the things we cannot rationalise. When the structural engineer signs off on a house, it is the interior designer and/or the owner's own tastes and creativity that go into turning that new property into their home. Imagine wielding the power to enable someone to physically and/or emotionally connect with a space or inanimate object. Imagine being able to evoke certain feelings or take someone back to a particular point in their life by considering their senses and their past. This is the power that creatives can possess. They just need to be shown how. There will always be creative people, and they will all have their own specialties and unique skill sets. Universities and schools are not responsible for creating creative people, but it is creative education that, in many cases, refines their raw ability and lets them know just how powerful they can be and how needed they really are.
It has been an incredibly difficult few years for many sectors, and education is no exception. Unfortunately, Wolverhampton University has found itself in a very unfavourable financial situation, which has resulted in the higher-ups choosing to axe the vast majority of the art and design school, and sadly, this is not a new trend. Creative courses have been the target of governments and school boards for many years now. Seen as the unnecessary fat to cut to help save a quick buck when times get hard, course leaders and teachers are left continually justifying the need for their course. At Goodstart Jones, we will always fly the flag for the importance of creative education, but we do accept that creative courses cost more money to run. While decisions like this make perfect sense to the accountants and governing bodies, the resounding messages they send to your past, present, and future creative students (and lecturers) are that they are expendable and not worth fighting for. This is not the first time we have seen this happen, and sadly, we are sure this will not be the last. As a product of creative higher education, this is a very bitter pill to swallow.
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As a solely online retailer it's often tricky to know if you are doing a good job or how your products are perceived by your customers.
Without a physical store front it can be tough to get the feedback that can come from the natural interaction with people.
This is why moments like these are important in ways that many will not fully understand. Thank you for the morale boost Steven Bartlett ! Chuffed to bits that you like some of the products we have been making recently!
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We have an open doors policy at the Goodstart Jones workshop. Ideal for when visitors and customers come to pay us a visit for ether tying out the product before they buy or just meeting us to see how we work. Likewise we also benefit form interactions as we listen and gain feedback on what we are doing.
However we especially like the open doors policy because we all enjoy once and awhile meeting like minded creators in our field of bags and accessories.
It acts and a coming together off mutuals learning and sharing of ideas. This is what I’d like to believe creates synergy “the interaction or cooperation of two or more organizations, substances, or other agents to produce a combined effect greater than the sum of their separate effects”.
The Visit Ann Charlish paid us created nothing but positive synergy.
Passionate and knowable university lecture in Textiles and fashion Ann has created a high end luxury bags and accessories Brand built around using her signature hand portend molten wool fabrics and silk lining with accents of vibrant leather colors inserts. The combination of these elements together creates a timeless design with a premium feel. aesthetic. It’s perfect balance of being an understated and yet unique.
Trust me, holding theses products you can certainly see and feel the attention to detail. Theres an high standard of craftsmanship, as each stitch on these bags looked perfect.
During Anns visit we all spoke about how we run our business and made our bags whilst intern she shared her own experience in working in the industry. During her visit we gave a brief tour of our workshop and left out to pop up another venue in the Wolverhampton city centre to contribute to a sewing event hosted by Wolverhampton university. But thats another story for another day.
What Ann’s taught us from her visit was that collaborations with other creatives would be ideal. Being able to work together and create a new bag using our own brand design language/styles to produce something even more unique.
Plus to try adding new visual patterned elements to own products, Like adding custom hand printed images and graphics to the bags. For example, maybe a woodsack with custom hand printed fabric.
Furthermore we learn that we really need to get out and network more often. Even if it requires ourselves to create our own social event and host an activity.
For more information about Ann Carlish go check out her website at www.anncharlish.co.uk
]]>We was invited to attend our first ever music festival as traders the answer was always going to be a big Yes.
We was so grateful to foxy markets for the invitation to be apart of a group of creative artisan traders.
Lets Talk About the Festival
We Out Here, the festival stages across the August bank holiday weekend in leafy Cambridgeshire, Taking its name from a 2018 Brownswood compilation showcasing London’s fertile jazz scene, the festival sits somewhere between a specialist affair and a more mainstream event, its lineup boasting acts as disparate as jazz legend Pharaoh Sanders, superstar rave duo Overmono, south London rapper Enny, and footwork selector Sherelle.
Now in its third year, We Out Here jolts to life on a grey Thursday, revellers in cowboy hats and waterproof jackets perusing non-musical attractions like the on-site record store, skating at the roller rink and testing their abdominal strength during a limbo session at the Lemon Lounge. Plus not to mention The Foxy market, a creative selection of fashion and lifestyle goods.
We Seized the opportunity. We Just had too.
From our point of view as a company..any small business attending a festival should treat this as an opportunity to meet people and introduce your products to a wider audience. For Goodstart Jones we are always in our workshop creating orders and creating new products, designing and developing new ideas.
However despite our creative innovations, we never ever seem to get the opportunity nor time to introduce the business or showcase what we do to a people since we hardly use Instagram with non-existent on social media ever since being hacked.
So been invited to take part in a festival we jumped at the chance “ Big thank you Foxy market collective for the invite” overall experience with the we out here Festival was awesome would definitely do it again the experience was priceless. Overall for any business wanting to get their products to new customers is worth it.
In-fact the feedback alone was so informative from people we used it to help us develop a brand new tote bag that called the “Good-Day Tote Bag”. We chosen that name because we guarantee you’ll certainly have a good day when using it. After all, to be able to carry everything without issues is a good day in our books.
Oh yes, back to my point. This was the first time attending a summer music festival EVER. Something we’ve always wanted to do as a business.
Taking part as traders turn out to be a fantastic experience. We certainly sold plenty of custom tote bags and accessories . But the highlight and big win for us was getting to know what people actually thought of our bags and the brand from friendly conversations and jovial banter.
Think the evening when we should the shop it was able to experience their festival itself we felt it was great and we like music we like jazz Being big hiphop heads we enjoyed the sets by General lvi and Underground residence to name a few. Plus the non-musical festivities too. Another highlight was recognize a few customers with some of our bags during the evenings which was always pleasing.
Overall to conclude the best thing that made the festival worth wild and really pop was the people…
Not just the customers but everyone in attendance including the other traders staff and attendees. Everyone had a great mindset which made it the feel quiet the celebration whilst being chilled and relaxing at the same time.
For example we hardly get to meet people we sell too. Yes Indeed we relish the feedback from online sales platforms plus the emails that we receive each week
has been vital for innovation.
However talking to new people face-to-face is like a treat to us as it's a different feeling when you get the condition or you get compliments.
Witnessing various people browse through the bags on the rails and talk about the bags that was really gratifying. We put in so much work creating the bags, so to see the product get discovered and chosen by a new proud owner gives us a warm feeling of accomplishment. As sense of pride to see our bags valued by over customers made our attendance worth it.
For our first festival we learnt a lot as a brand and what certain customers want from us. For example, we learnt that most people like bright bold colors like ice greens orange and yellows purples. we out sold these colors more than the darker ones. Yet camouflage print was our big seller. the camo bags combined with the other colors was a thing we tried as a sample selection that we might add to our line up.
When you go to a festival bring bigger tote bags. These Large Totes was another product we sold a lot of. Furthermore we learnt that not a lot of people like patterns for the logos that we chose so will probably do less patterned bags unless we work with a collaboration of artists instead will do more bold colors and brighter however we did learn that a lot of people wanted zips however zips is something we don't really want to use in our own range of products unless really needed because they're not a sustainable hardware and cant guaranty failure .Therefore zippers goes against our principle when about aiming to become a sustainable company.
Yet it's not all doom and gloom because the bags that we do create without that we on the on the right track and like I said before we did learn a lot from the experience.
We Made Bags Fresh Daily…
Because we brought a sewing machine vinyl printer and heat press, we set up a makeshift mini workshop in our airbnb house which enabled us to produce various bags that we believed would work for the festival over the 4 day period.
This strategy allowed us to replenish stock and make the type of bags appropriate for the festival and what people were looking for.
talking to attendees find out what they liked, what customers wanted simply to go back to our airbnb hotel and create the type of bags that we knew would sell which saved us a lot of money and waste and time trying to convince people to buy bags that they wouldn't be interested .
making of daily it felt like there's a bunch of bakers because will make bags fresh in the morning and then sell it the same day at the event was awesome.
I'll tell anybody that is thinking of to attend a festival as a trader “go ahead and go for it go for it”! With all your mind and heart you will be pleased you did it.
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