MUS - Copenhagen Treat Pocket
It's hard to believe it's already December. The rain season has already started a month ago and the humidity is keeping the air colder than usual. Looking back, this year was quite eventful, from starting a new full-time job, buying a house, a big family visit, launching my first pet product, and to a farewell to my beloved grandmother.
Last year, I started developing a handful of pet product concepts and presented to a few manufacturers. I never thought of myself designing a dog product but it has long been in my head to someday create my own lifestyle brand that has full of high-quality and well designed products. I'm mostly inspired by those Danish brands, Menu, Norman Copenhagen, Muuto, and Vipp. A long way to go but they are my goal.
People already know I'm obsessed with my dog, Uni and what was interesting was many pet products I encountered were focused mostly on utilitarian aspects and not designed for human standards. There was a segment in the market that hasn't been explored much, 'a quality pet product designed for both dogs and humans.'
I initially had a mix of hard and soft product concepts developed. My budget was low so I started with something I could handle. A dog training treat bag was my pick. There were a lot of issues with my old training pouch I used to carry around for Uni. It had the pet gear look, over-sized and hard to reach the treat, and eventually became saggy and crumbly inside. There were many things I could improve in my own version of a treat pouch.
Injection molding, metal casting, tooling have long been part of my world throughout my industrial design career and I realized this was my first time to ever work on a soft product. I used my conventional 3D tools to design it first but the real challenge lies in maneuvering a 'fabric' which stretches, creates wrinkles, and doesn't stay in shape. I bought my first sewing machine that year and started sewing bunch of prototypes. My goal was not to perfect my sewing skills but to find out how a bag was assembled, size, proportions, and where the seams go. I clearly missed FromLabs, a 3D printer I used to use in my previous work. Just one push of a button and prototype was made. That wasn't a case for a fabric product.
Next step was to find a manufacturer. After a few rejections, endless back and forth conversations, and many test samples being made by different manufacturers, I finally found my partner. It looks like a simple product but there were so many things you need to take into consideration. Every detail counts towards the result of the final product, from finding a right fabric, leather, a clip, to deciding texture directions, thread thickness and color, and stitching patterns. It was an endless process but a very critical step before sending a green light to the factory for mass production.
I named my treat bag, Copenhagen Treat Pocket with the brand name called 'MUS.' As you may know, MUS is a nickname of our Miss Uni, the Unimus, the driving force of my pet company. The treat bag comes with a washable inner bag, a durable metal clip for easy attachment, and a waste bag carrier/dispenser. And most of all, the design is minimal, neutral, and blend well with any outfit you wear. Training your puppy doesn't just end in class but continues everyday at your house, work, hike, shopping, anywhere you bring him/her to.
Copenhagen Treat Pocket is now available at musmode.com
Our Instagram is at @mus_mode
This year felt like 'hit the ground running. I have so many other ideas and concepts for MUS but it's the year end and time to slow down. Our thanksgiving was peaceful and enjoyable. Especially after working so hard to renovate our backyard and turn it into a playground for Uni. I'm overall very thankful for how this year went with all the big new changes and challenges.
One thing that hurts to think is I won't be writing post cards for 'obachan' (grandma) anymore. She was such a joyful and cheerful human being, whom I always had the warm and happy association with. I went back to Japan in November for her funeral. There were a lot of flowers and familiar faces. It felt like a natural progression of life, more warm feeling than sad. Once in a while it gives me a little heartaches but I'm glad she lived a long happy life.
Christmas is around the corner. Don't forget to love one another and I wish you wonderful holidays and new years. For dog owners, don't forget to check out our winter sale on Copenhagen Treat Pocket (musmode.com).
Greetings in Japanese
前回のブログからすでに3か月が過ぎてしまいました。もう少し頻繁に書きたいなーと思うものの、９月からは猛烈に忙しく、このブログを含めて趣味でやっているものは、すべて後回しに後回しにとあっという間に１２月になってしまいました。
本当に変化の多かった年ですが、長い間サイドプロジェクトとして’やっていたペット商品の開発が今年生産を経て無事ローンチすることができました。
日本の例でいうと無印？よりも少しハイエンドな総合ライフスタイルのブランドを立ち上げることが将来の目標ですが、今は数少ないハイエンドなペット商品からまず先駆けてやっていこうかと思っています。
安っぽいペット商品が多い中で、ハイエンドでデザイン性の高いをコンセプトに目指して、愛犬をトレーニングするときに体に身に着けるトリートポーチを自分流にデザインしてみました。
ブランド名はMUS。ウニのニックネームからつけたものです。今後、いろんな商品を開発していけたらなと思っています。ウェブサイトは、musmode.com。興味のある方、または犬好きの方はぜひ見ていただけると幸いです。
少し話は変わりますが、先月祖母が亡くなりました。最後にメールを交換してから２か月後の出来事でした。小さい頃から祖父母の中でも特別に好きだったおばあちゃん。お葬式のために１１月に緊急に日本に一時帰国してまいりました。今でもたまにふっとしたときに悲しくなりますが、いつもいつもアイちゃんアイちゃんと気にかけてくれたおばあちゃん。今まで本当に温かく見守って応援してくれてありがとう、感謝の気持ちでいっぱいです。