How to Design a Bag Customers Will Love

Designing a perfect customised bag can be equal parts exciting and daunting. Perhaps you have a clear vision of what you want your bag to be and you’re eager to get started. Or perhaps you have no idea what type of bag is best for your customers and you’re just not sure what to do next. Both mindsets are common, and with the right approach and help, both can result in perfect bags that your customers will love.

 In this post, we hope to remove one of the biggest challenges among many of our customers: knowing where to start. We share our essential tips for creating a bag from start to finish, to help set you off in the right direction and build a bag that your customers are sure to love.

Tips to Design your Own Custom Bag

Know your Audience and What Matters to Them

Our first tip for creating a bag that your customers will love is to know your audience. Understanding your target customer is key to creating a bag that people will love. You likely already do this in other facets of your business – from how you design and deliver your products and services to the messaging you use in advertisements or presentations. 

All of this revolves around a clear understanding of not only who your target audience is, but also what matters to them. For example, put yourself into the shoes of your single, ideal customer. Who are they? What do they care about? Are they most likely to be concerned about cost? Fashionable design? Or is practicality and function the biggest factor? 

If you’re unsure, check out the latest trends online to see what’s popular among similar groups, perhaps searching by age, gender, location or interests. Sites like Pinterest are a great source of up-to-the-minute inspiration. Another strategy is to leverage whatever business intelligence already exists at your company or organisation. Consult any audience insight resources you have, perhaps an internal strategy document or something that a consultant provided through focus groups or research. These materials can provide a wealth of information on your audience that will translate into their product preferences.

Pick the Right Product: Who, What and How Much

Today, there are a dizzying array of bag types to choose from. We think this a great problem to have! But we also know that the wide range of options can contribute to an overwhelming feeling of not knowing where to start. Our second tip is to ask yourself a series of questions to help you hone in on the type of bag you want to create. Use the following as a guideline to narrow down your options:

• Who will use your bag? Our first tip above was to get to know your audience. Apply this when thinking through what style of bag will be the most appealing and appropriate. Will it be used by children and students? Adults? By men and women? Office workers? Holiday goers?
• What is the intended primary function of the bag? How will it be used? For shopping and daily errands? For carrying a computer or other equipment? For travel? To carry materials at a conference or event? For youth to use for club or school sports?
• Is the price point a key factor? If you intend to sell the bag online or at a retail location, do you have a minimum or maximum price you’d like to charge for it? What do you think your customers would be willing to pay for it? Or do you intend to give the bag away at an upcoming conference or event?
  

Another helpful framework for picking the right product is to think about what your goal is. Are you trying to raise the overall visibility of your brand? Then look for a versatile bag with a large print area. Are you trying to get your name in front of a specific audience, perhaps people exercising at a gym or with a corporate running club? Then look for an athletic or gym bag that is likely to be used by people engaging in that activity.

For example, maybe you identify your target customer as a busy, on-the-move and fashionable adult who travels frequently for work or holiday. One product to consider might not even be a bag but a sleek and functional travel wallet which has pockets for passports, boarding tickets, credit and health cards and currency, such as our Micro-Fibre Travel Wallet. It also has a perfect space on the front, inside and back for your company logo or message.

To design a perfect bag, you don’t have to be an engineer or artist and worry about things like bag specifications, seams and sizes. At Rocket Bags, we can give you a leg up by using existing stock designs as the starting point for your bag. This takes the guesswork out of the design and function of your bag, and enables you to focus on more creative things like fabric, colour and messaging. Having a clear idea of your ideal customer will help with all of these decisions to help you put together a product your customers are sure to love and use.

Get Creative and Get Input from Others

Once you decide on a bag type, your choices don’t end there! Bags are incredibly versatile and for every style, there’s a near-endless combination of colours, shapes, patterns and materials that you can use. Our customers often tell us this is their favourite part of creating a bag. It’s where your vision and imagination really come alive. Our advice here is to have fun and get creative! Why not reach out to your internal department or team for their input? You don’t have to make these decisions alone. What is their favourite bag right now? What do they hear from their customers? 

One cool way to get creative is to mix up the materials you use. Try incorporating two materials at once, like cotton fabric and artificial leather, or polyester and jute. Or, try contrasting colours. This is another great opportunity to visit a site like Pinterest for inspiration – perhaps search for interesting wedding colour combinations as a start. 

Another tip is to reach out to your customers. If you already have a popular product you’d like to revamp, engage your client base and encourage them to weigh in. Social media is a great tool for polling your customers and gauging interest on different designs. This could provide incredibly valuable feedback and an opportunity to re-think things if the reception is lukewarm. It also involves your customers which might build loyalty with your company as they’ll feel like their voice and input matters. 

Design is Everything: Pick the Right Partner

Our last piece of advice is all about the design and production. Finding a high-quality bag manufacturer who understands your design needs is an essential part of the process. You have the vision for your bag, the manufacturer is the one responsible for bringing your ideas to life. In our experience, both at Rocket Bags, but also as consumers ourselves, many of us are brimming with great ideas but need help in putting it on the page. 

This is where design expertise is essential. Check if your proposed manufacturer offers design assistance. While it seems like a baseline service that all bag makers should offer, some manufactures have no such offering, while others will charge an additional fee for it. We suggest that you inquire about a manufacturer’s design capabilities before you commit to working with them. Look for and review testimonials from past customers to get the full picture.

We hope this post helps you feel more confident about designing a bag your customers will love. It’s a fun and easy process once you get started and we’re here to help as much or as little as you would like.

What other questions do you have? Or what other advice or tips do you want to share with others? Please get in touch with us today to talk about all things bags!