Project Overview
July is the next generation in luggage - a modern companion for everyday exploring. Designed locally in Melbourne, July provides a whole new experience in travel, providing the users word-class quality at an affordable price point.
Project Commissioner
Project Creator
One Design Office (ODO) Pty Ltd
Team
Co-designed with Dylan Luxa, Industrial Designer @ ODO.
Project Brief
The humble suitcase hasn't changed since they first put wheels on them in the 1970s. How often do we find ourselves struggling to find luggage that that meets our needs of today?
As a category, the travel accessories industry is broken; make it as cheap as possible, use a plethora of wholesalers and distributors to sell, and ignore all connection with the customer. This causes the existing market to be filled with over-priced goods sold with a short product lifespan in mind. Churn and burn.
Additionally, there is a choice paradox in luggage; flooded with choice, colours and superfluous features - there is no clear direction for consumers to buy confidently.
We started with this problem, and changed the entire business model to solve it.
Project Innovation/Need
Our design brief was simple; read over 4000 reviews of existing cases and design around fixing what was wrong; we needed better reinforcement of corners and bends, a better business model around trials and warranty, and a simple method to buy and communicate with the brand.
July was designed for strength and convenience. Brilliantly manufactured, it has created a standard that is lacking from the market: unbreakable, beautiful luggage.
An integrated power-bank that charges your devices on the go, a handle that stops at any height you want it to, custom-made wheels that don’t make a sound, and a signature Y Strap compression system to squeeze more in, all packed into a 100% German polycarbonate shell with reinforced aluminium bumpers.
We even created our own scratch-proof texture on a sophisticated yet minimalist shell that's a fresh look in a market full of unnecessary frills.
Coming in 5 colours, your July is the redefinition of what comfort and convenience is when travelling today. And this is just the beginning.
Design Challenge
Our challenges were ensuring we could custom design everything to solve the market need problem. Together with our partner factory we created new wheel and handle housing so we could create a unique eggshell shape around the corners. This additional curvature innovation was designed to create more bounce back on hard knocks at the polycarbonate’s weakest points: it’s corners.
We then worked to reinforce the case with custom anodised aluminium bumpers for added protections.
Ultimately our business model is the innovation here that democratised unbreakable design; only Rimowa sells a hybrid polycarbonate and aluminium bumper case, and they do so at $1,200 per unit (the July is $295 with a lifetime warranty).
Sustainability
In a category where most items are thrown out after 2 years, July luggage is designed to last a lifetime. This reduces the frequency and need of purchase significantly, adjusting the market to be a lot more sustainable and reduce total luggage consumption.
Creating higher-quality longer-lasting products at a fraction of the traditional price points thanks to our direct-to-consumer model means we are giving people of all economic situations the opportunity to own luggage that lasts a lifetime and stops the cycle of single use travel accessories.
Product Design - Sport - Active Life
This award celebrates creative and innovative design for either a component or overall product. Consideration given to aspects that relate to human usage, aesthetics, selection of components and materials, and the resolution of assembly, manufacturing and the overall function.
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