Universal Messenger Bags

Universal Messenger Bags - Behind the Design

Today we are interviewing MacCase President Michael Santoro about the company's new Universal Laptop + Tablet Messenger Bags. 

Jody: Messenger bags are one form factor MacCase has been committed to since the beginning of the company. When it came time to design a new one, what were your goals?

MS: Our last messenger bag model ran for an ungodly long time. The good thing about that was it gave us a long list of features customers wanted in a new one. That made the process fun. It really was a clean sheet design.

We pushed until we had something we were truly proud of. Each aspect of the design has been taken apart and put back together in a new, exciting way, responding to the requests of our customers.

From the built in laptop compartment, to the multiple places to hold any size tablet from any manufacturer, to the top handle to the new White - Cyan "BrightSight" interior, our messenger bags are truly universal and the perfect companion to help get you through your day.

With any new product, there are teething pains, development snafus and general uncertainty. The goal was to bring something to market that was truly unique from the price per feature aspect.

MacCase has always been a leader in value. When you compare the feature set, materials, design and price vs. what you get from other manufactures, most of the time the MacCase model will offer a better value. 

For the new designs, that value component was going to be very important. The goal for the whole program was to bring a bag you could do anything with. Laptop and tablet transport and protection combined with a day use bag that was comfortable, light weight, and fun to use. 

But it had to be under $90. There many messenger style laptop bags for under $90. Most are missing basic features or use substandard material. When you touch and feel them you get the sense if you bought it, you'd be buying another 6 months from now.

The question we asked was could we bring a bag to market with the features and quality of say, an $100-$120 bag for under $90? We feel we were successful in our goal.

Designing a Better Messenger Bag

JKD - What was the design brief for the new Universal Messenger Bag. What did you want to accomplish?

MS - The design had to be bold. Our older, all black Apple messenger bags, while very functional, didn't pop. It didn't grab you. The new design had to express a certain passion. People have to "get it" as soon as they see it.

For the nylon line, the hard part is to create products that grab you in a way that is devoid of trend. MacCase products are not trendy. So the challenge becomes how do you make a product contemporary and bold but not trendy. 

JKD - So how'd you do it?

MS - I went back to an old style of sketching, using a Tuscan Red pencil on newsprint paper. It's the way I like to draw figures and sketch cars early in the design process. It's very raw and visceral and tangible.

Out of this came a new visual vocabulary that we can use across the board, that we can build a line around going forward. Part of that vocabulary includes the use of color. After looking at thousands of colors, I choose pure cyan. It pops, is gender neutral and is used in a way that makes the product very contemporary without being trendy.

JKD - But the bag is still mostly all black….

MS - Yes, but like music, painting and other arts, a little of something goes a long way. The entire front panel under the main flap is bright cyan blue. For the most part it's covered, but just barely, by the flap. You get this layering effect that as you open it up and start using it.  

JKD - Then you get to the inside and it's radical….  

MS - I don't know if anyone has ever done a white interior in a laptop case before. Our BrightSight interiors were radical when we first introduced them and this carries on that tradition of making a statement with the interior of the bag.

There is a reason everyone has a copied it. BrightSight works. It makes the user experience better. The new cyan and white interior is the purest interior we've ever done. It's BrightSight 2.0 and it works better than ever.

JKD - What about cleaning it? 

MS - If the white gets dirty, a little soap and water will go a long way. 

A Messenger Bag with Hidden Compartments

JKD: Tell us about the features. What makes these messenger bags unique? 

MS: The Universal Messenger Bags are brimming with wonderful features. Many of these features are found on much more expensive bags. My current favorite is the twin hidden compartments. One of the cool things about them is that you can access them without having to open the main flap. 

So not only are they both hidden, but you don't need to unbuckle anything to get to them. This is the kind of feature that can really make a difference to someone in a sketchy situation like a parking garage late at night. The hidden compartment will protect a valuable item like a set of keys. Yet you don't have to fidget with getting into the bag to quickly get to them. 

Another feature is the fabric used on the front flap. It's what called a "jaguard" nylon with a special diamond texture sewn into the weave. Nylon is more expensive than polyester and a textured nylon is more expensive yet. The textured nylon adds to the sense of quality and distinction to the bag, separating from the hoards of others.

Many bags in this price range use a simple polyester bottom panel. The bottom panel is one of the most important surfaces on any bag for the same reason the soles of your shoes are important. It's where the rubber meets the road. 

For our new messenger bag, we did not use a simple polyester fabric like many other manufactures do. If we did, there is a chance it could wear quickly lowering the value of the product to the customer. We use a heavy textured rubberized plastic fabric.

Yes, it costs much more. But in over a decade of making bags, we have never had a single warranty issue concerning our bottom panels. Nor have we ever had a customer contact us about the bottom panel wearing out. Value and quality for under $90. That’s what the MacCase nylon models are all about. 

Custom, soft touch zipper pulls were designed to put a smile on your face when opening and closing the YKK brand zippers. The oversized, rubberized pulls have a raised center text that actually functions to aid grip especially in the rain or if you're wearing gloves.

Flexible Functionality

JKD - It looks and sounds like you worked really hard on how it looks, what about the functionality?

MS - We added many features that customers have been asking for over the years and combined them with all the features we know people liked from our current design, plus a few news ones we came up with along the way.

JDK - Can you tell me about the back of the bag? What was the thinking that led to this design?

MS - The first thing you notice is the branding: A new font for MacCase and it's big and bright, but it's on the back so this keeps it from being obnoxious. It's fun but hidden. It was also a way for us to tie some of the cyan to the back of the bag.

The triangular shapes or the padding came about from a study of how horizontal oriented bags "roll" on a persons hip. The padding shapes and positions allow for cooling yet protect the contents and are comfortable to wear.

Surface Pro Messenger Bag

JKD - Using the word Universal in the product tittle tell me these are not just lightweight messenger bags for the Apple laptops. Are you walking away from that?

MS - No not at all. This is a perfect messenger bag for a MacBook or Surface Pro. We get a lot of calls from Surface Pro owners asking which MacCase models will work with their machines. It's great to have a model to direct them to with full confidence it will work for them. 

MacCase Design

JKD - Lastly, are their features that you wanted to include but couldn't? How do you choose which details get to production and which don't?

MS - Well sure, there are always features you want that are either too expensive, or not right for the product. That's what good design is all about, making the best choices to create the best customer experience.

A bunch of features do not always add up to something special. It's how the combination of the features make you feel.

At the end, we put together a feature set that we hope will create the most positive user experience for the customer. Whether it's a hidden compartment to store your tablet that's easy to reach or a handle to make pulling it out of the overhead bin easier, all these things should over time, add up to something greater than the sum of the parts.

That's always been what MacCase Design is about and that's definitely what this new messenger bag is all about.