My definition of customization involves collaboration between 4 entities:
- The brands, which produce a standard product that they wish to promote,
- Manufacturers of customization tools with their own scope of application,
- The craftsmen who may be involved in the creation of small series,
- The designers and artists who use their creativity to design an illustration of the customization.
I would add the point of sale, which in this model of unique or limited series is the most direct: in galleries or on dedicated web sites.
From theory to the project, TagmyBag concept, conducted by the magazine LAST Concept, is a perfect Case Study… Description and questions to these lovers of the creation …
The concept TagmyBag is simple but brilliant, as it is to ask to 30 artists to customize 30 bags for 30 weeks (from 07 April to 27 October 2009).
A project that puts into action 3 of the 4 components of my customization theory …:
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The Brand: the bag, ie the most popular among schoolchildren Eastpak which provides its « standard » backpack Padded identified “great value” for 45 years.
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The tool: the famous supplier of aerosol spray made “by artists for artists” (graffiti artists): Molotow, particularly its line of ink marker.
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The artists selected by the team LAST Concept which has involved 30 artists and reference in terms of urban art, and highlight in good interviews within their site.
Here there’s no subcontractor as artists realize their custom directly on the product. And the sales model is very original since every Tuesday of each week a customized bag is auctioned on eBay with a starting price of 60US$.
(This tuesday the price # 11 concerns the urban designer TBLRONE)
I love this project, which combines the sense of collaboration, relevance of the selection of artists and originality of the sales available to everyone.
I asked few questions to Giordano Bruno, co-founder of LAST Concept and coordinator of this project:
UnSigne@ Bruno: Can you describe the genesis of this concept and the timing of the implementation of the project:
The chronology of this project dates back to 5 years back! In January 2004, Nicolas and I launched the magazine LAST Mag. It has worked to bring about 24 issues dealing with themes that cross over our passion: music, art, slides, lifestyle … (The mags are rested archive pdf: http://www.last-concept.com/v1/last-mag/ )). Eastpak is our » historical advertiser », which accompanied us since the first issue until the last. We stopped this great collective adventure to bounce back on new projects, including the holding of musical concerts / exhibitions, and initiatives such as TagmyBag. “Tag my bag” is the result of our living, it brings together artists that was exciting for most cross or discovered in carrying out and disseminating LAST Mag. As for Molotow, we contacted them for the first time when it was preparing Tag my Bag project. They were attracted, and we hoped it is the first in a long series of collaborations!
UnSigne@ Bruno: In terms of organization and coordination of what were the biggest problems encountered and your solutions?
We have not encountered any difficulties as we have properly considered and prepared the story. It is a long job but well enough over time to not impose too many constraints or rushes … I would say that the biggest challenge is to ensure that our friends peinturlurés fingers can provide us with a nice custom time because they are often caught between four ideas and achievements!
UnSigne@ Bruno: In terms of organization and coordination of what were the biggest problems encountered and your solutions?
We have not encountered any difficulties as we have considered and prepared the story. It is a long job but well enough over time to not impose too many constraints or rushes … I would say that the biggest challenge is to ensure that our creative friends can provide us with a nice custom in time because they are often caught between four ideas and achievements!
UnSigne@ Bruno: Can you quantify the return on communication of this action for the brands?
This step is exclusively offered on the Web, there will be no expo room. Every week, we send a newsletter via an e-mailing and we share the news about the various online communities to which we subscribe (forums, facebook, etc …). We can quantify the traffic on our Web site, the pages and their sources. We see that gradually blossom incoming links from European blogs, which appreciate and pass on its existence. The process of giving an appointment weekly 30 weeks allows us to communicate gradually. And we will be able to estimate its overall impact in October! The Graffiti Art Mag magazine offered us a double page showing the project in its summer issue on newsstands, and we continue the effort, because beyond the quantitative goal, our first is qualitative: TagmyBag is a great “rendez-vous” of talented artists that we are proud to promote.
UnSigne@Bruno: Blow of heart and art benchmarks for the next sales ?
The principle is to cross the universe of different artists on a single medium, and the resulting reports are so specific to each one that it created a small inside event as soon as we receive a new custom bag at the office! We are just at the first third of the project and on a lot of surprises, I’m just standing heart! TBLRONE gave us something unique for the time with sewing design. TIZIEU illustration painted and decorated his bag with nice little accessory, you’ll see… We have yet to discover the bags DRAN, MIST, ATLAS, BRUNO LEYVAL, FAKIR, TEURK, etc .. do I need to clarify how we look forward to show that 
?
Personally I had a helping heart to the urban troublemaker Sich who gave to LastConcept his nice vision of customization:
Why be limited to what is to sell? I like the opportunity to give his side – his own vision for a stand. Give its color, and away from its meaning. The custom has given to objects a « soul » »
But I missed the last auction of nothing… so do not miss yours … And keep us post if you get one …
