Everything you can imagine is real - Pablo Picasso

Weekly Thoughts

"You have to want what you're working for."

Visualize the process and, ultimately, the completion of your goals.

Relish in those feelings and take action towards the future.

Have a great week, everyone :)

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Work-board week of May 6th, 2022

The first prototype of the Tote Bag has come back from the factory.

Something about the factory rework of the bag feels off. I personally think the design has become too polished. In attempting to make the bag more efficient for manufacturing, we lost some of the initial shapes. We are now too round. We will have to rework the bag to bring back some initial structure. The top thick horizontal strip of the fabric also feels out of place. Clay's first prototype was much more structured in the design, but because the bag has been rounded out and a whole new upper part added, the existing horizontal strip has become jarring in design.

Lab Dip approvals

Below, we have lab dips that have recently been approved. Some of the pictures may not make much sense. Essentially these are to support color + color matching between the trims and main fabric of the pieces. This is an essential step because you don't want trims to be slightly off in color. The reason that can happen is because of the difference in fabrics. A synthetic tape material will require different dipping than an all-cotton body piece of fabric.

Mesh Shorts drawcord

Binding tape for the running jacket + Neck tape for the running jacket, running long sleeve, and quarter zip

Body fabric for quarter zip

Injection molding for the MNY Apple Figurine

Last week I talked about the injection molding process needed for the figurine. Since we are not going into a large 10,000 unit production, the cost of injection molding becomes too high for it to make sense. I dropped the flag from the design and replaced it with a "produce sticker" like you would see in a grocery store when shopping for an apple. (Seen below)

Progress on the warehouse

Storage and product flow in the warehouse is critical in meeting our shipping speed expectation. Last week we submitted an order for 12 new pallet racks to handle in continued increase of product that is coming in as growth continues. We learned that in warehousing, it's best to store vertically. While this almost seems like a "duh" moment... pallet racks are not cheap so running a cost-benefit analysis was necessary. Ultimately we would not have been able to move forward with any new releases without the vertical storage.

Running Shorts

The feedback that you all provided for the running shorts was incredible. I posted a video about the running shorts last week and received fantastic crowdsourced ideas from you all there as well. I am adding (2) zip pockets for gels, keys, cards, etc., to either side of the existing middle back pocket. I figure that it's better to give more storage than to have it be too little. The liner will also now feature a phone pocket. It is in sample design right now, but I should have a prototype in hand by the end of the month.

Hangtag approval

We are working on providing a hangtag with each product. Below is the final sample of the hangtag. I am always torn on whether the end consumer will appreciate the more minor things (such as a hang tag or custom bags that the product arrives in). Still, I spent a lot of time recently studying Steve Jobs' ideology surrounding packaging design, and it further cemented how important it is / will be to the brand's future.

Ring Sample

Our first ring sample should arrive from Italy sometime this week. Mainly I am looking to see how it fits, how the finish looks, and how big the area for the emerald will be. In our quest for using natural emeralds, I have been torn between real and synthetics. There are many options of synthetics that look almost identical to real... the main difference being a drastic price increase in the natural emerald.

Training

This week's training block was the same as last week (49 miles with 5 lifts):

1. Monday: Rest (Lift - Push)

2. Tuesday: 9 Miles Aerobic (Lift - Pull)

3. Wednesday: 5 Miles Aerobic (Lift - Legs)

4. Thursday: 11 Miles Endurance (Lift - Push)

5. Friday: 4 Miles Recovery (Lift - Pull)

6. Saturday: 7 Miles Aerobic + 8x100m strides (No Lift)

7. Sunday: 13 Miles Endurance (No Lift)

I'm happy with the progress on these 13-mile-long runs. This week was 1:27 (6:45/mile pace), and it felt great (besides the first 4 miles as I was getting started). My heart rate average was 149. Interested to see where we will be in a few months with continued training.

Articles I found interesting this week:

My experience getting a tech job with no degree or relevant work experience

Teen Mental Health Is Plummeting, and Social Media is a Major Contributing Cause