Background
WindPouch was a small startup in the Outdoor Adventure industry, based in Chamblee, GA. I was the teams sole product designer and operations manager for our factories in China. I helped design and launch the WindPouch GO, WindPouch Lite, new retail ready packaging as well as helped revamp the Shopify based website. Below you will find some examples of my work.
The original WindPouch
The original WindPouch was launched in March of 2016 before I joined the team. This product immediately was a hit in the concert and festival markets as well as the outdoor adventure category. With in about a month the product was spawning many copy-cat companies. The product also faced some quality issues ranging from early deflation to fabric bursts. My task was to design a new WindPouch that improved upon the first version, used more durable materials and one that would include a pillow head rest.
Initial idea
My initial new design for the WindPouch was a minor update with inspiration drawn from companies like ENO and Kammock in the hammock industries. The initial design included a raised pillow area, new pocket design, improved fabric and accessory loops for future up-sell products.
Concept 1
The first concept of the new WindPouch was a lesson for not only me, but our factories as well. This concept we wanted to take part of the WindPouch logo and turn that into the shape of the product. Unfortunately, this product turned out too big and complex, making it hard to inflate and put the product quality at even higher risk.
Concept 2 - Final Design
Working directly with our factory we were able to design a new lounger using some of the features from my initial idea including an added pillow head rest. I spent two weeks in China working one on one helping develop this product further including final fabric choices, improved triple stitch methods, improved inner liner material and a new carry bag design.
We launched the WindPouch GO (left) in December 2016 for the holiday season. It retailed for $79. For February 2017 I finished the WindPouch Lite which retailed for $55. This model was a lighter weight, less feature packed model for the casual user.
Packaging
One of the more unique problems we faced with the WindPouch was designing retail friendly packaging for the product. This product was very new to the retail environment and was not a product that could easily sell itself. Many of our retailers expressed that we needed something that could stand out, sell the product and inform the user to how inflate the product.
