Taryn's Design Diary

First, oops, I made a few mistakes in the collage above. I’m making the Tycooness sample in black and gray, for example, not black and that other color shown. I copied and pasted the wrong thing, but didn’t notice it until now, and I don’t have the patience to redo the collage. Then there’s the matter of proportions. Please do not try to determine the size of one illustrated bag by comparing it to the size of another. They were each copied and pasted from different documents or files. For example, no, the Dignitary bowler bag would not in reality fit inside the Jetsetter weekender, and the Executive satchel is not giant compared to the Tycooness, etc. =P

And no, I don’t know why I made the interior lining pattern front and center and the actual handbag illustrations much tinier around the periphery. Guess it started when I had to decide on one universal lining (to keep costs down) and tried to match up the swatch colors to the lining. Then to remind myself what each swatch color set corresponded to, I copied and pasted illustrations of the bag designs.

Taryn Zhang has a specific objective: to design bags for the working woman. It started with the Catalyst (thus aptly named) and Ambitionist briefcasey type bags because that’s what I needed myself for work. I couldn’t find anything that was both girly and corporate, because for some reason society still thinks the two don’t go together. They definitely do! Who’s with me!?

Then, because the working woman still has a life outside the office, I worked on designs for weekend travel, shopping excursions, or brunch with the girlfriends. Also, since not all of us work in corporate, I wanted to include a few handbags for the arts professional.

Folks in fashion design tend to be paranoid-secretive with their conceptions and are constantly in fear that somebody will copy their work and make a boatload of money off it. Perhaps it comes from being educated in Silicon Valley, because I have a more open-source outlook on design. Plus, worst case scenario, if somebody really did copy me, I can point back to this blog and say “Look! We’re the first! Just because it takes us eons to produce a bag doesn’t mean we didn’t conceive of it before they did.”

True, I don’t see many other designers (or any at all that I’ve come across to date) putting it all out there the way this blog does, but I refer  back to a comment on a previous post made by a reader. It’s okay that I have no industry experience or know-how. When I don’t know what’s “right” and what’s “wrong,” I will do what I want, where my passions guide me. And that in fact has been the key to many a success story. So I hope it’ll work out for me as well.

Samples production round 2 will begin in the next few weeks or so.

:: excited! ::

All illustrations above were rendered in MS Paint.

It did not work out so well the first time around, but that’s because I didn’t have swatch books! These are fantastic. In fact, I’m experiencing options overload.

I had a same-day flight to and from L.A. yesterday for work and what transpired there drained all my energy. I thought I’d stay in bed all weekend to recuperate from quite the stressful week, but then the package arrived on my doorstep: the swatch books from my manufacturer in Hong Kong! Yay! Forget the bed! It’s gonna be a Taryn Zhang weekend! Samples production Part II commences, officially now!

Please note that the following handbags represent first prototypes and serious blunders. This blog documents our trials and errors and tracks our progress from inexperienced start-up to launching the Taryn Zhang brand. Please bear that in mind as you look through these photos and illustrations. 

If your perceptions may allow you to believe that this bag is pink…   

…more specifically, a shade of pink I like to informally and fondly refer to as L.A. Socialite Pink. You know the pink I’m talking about. That light cotton candy I’m-a-girly-flirty-trust-fund-baby pink. First, I don’t know if the color of the above-photographed bag would be considered pink; and even if I run with the assumption that it is in fact pink, I don’t know if it comes close to falling within the notion of L.A. Socialite Pink. 

Though I will say this: if I stare at that bag long enough and down enough glasses of wine, I start to think that actually, the color and style of this is bag is kinda cute…kinda…well, at least it’s not horrible like the other sample previously posted.   

Bird's Eye View

Here is the same bag in a color intended to be cream. Then again, it’s evident here that the color problem started with my sketch. The color of the illustrated bag is canary yellow, not “cream.” What could I have thus expected for the output? 

There is also the issue (though now it sure seems like a negligible one compared to everything else we’re dealing with) of the samples made without the silver-tone metal link chains (see sketch above) or the contrast trimming for the side pockets. Plus, this bag is supposed to come with a detachable adjustable shoulder strap, but I sure don’t see any hooks on that bag for such a strap. Triple oops. 

Now let’s get to the bag that should have been one of my favorites, the Workaholic shoulder tote. 

The material itself is lovely and soft, ideal for most ladies’ handbags, just not this one. No. This bag should have been made out of a harder, glossier, completely smooth material, case-like, sturdy, and structured. 

In the front, that diagonal line from the illustration indicates an open pocket. It’s clear from the photograph that the sample omitted the open pocket detail and simply sewed across to create the look of that diagonal line. 

Sketch of the Workaholic design, from Nov '09

Finally (sadly), the photographs of these first samples make it apparent to me (and to everybody) that my metal logo plaque is fugly. It looks cheap. It’s too big. 2 inch x 2 inch? What was I thinking?! What convinced me that a 2 inch x 2 inch metal square slapped onto the front of every bag would look good, when I myself am one who normally loathes huge obvious logos on my clothes and accessories? 

Irony is one of my favorite literary devices. The above weekender tote design was named the Overachiever. What a disaster. Overachiever my *$$. 

This bag was intended to be a grad student bag, something to fit big textbooks and a laptop. It also comes with a detachable adjustable shoulder strap, which is missing. That’s okay though. The missing shoulder strap is the least of my worries for this sample. 

And where is the matching clutch that is supposed to go with the Overachiever bag set? In theory, there should be a compartment inside the weekender tote that houses this matching clutch. Run around campus all day lugging the tote, and at night when it’s time to go out, leave the tote in the car and take the clutch with you. Except the factory forgot all about the clutch. It simply wasn’t made. So now we’re waiting on that… I mean shucks; what else could go wrong? 

[Now I need to go find some wood to knock on because knowing my luck...] 

Originally named the Catalyst, this particular bag shall now be called the Stuffed Lobster. 

For a line of vegan handbags, I’m not sure why these samples are coming out looking like dead animals. Case in point, the previous post with the Kindred Spirit looking like a panda-bear-mutated-into-a-purse. Now this. 

Also, the material for this bag should have been hard, glossy, smooth, and there should be a women’s briefcase look to the Catalyst. Instead, the actual material used above looks like fabric, or nylon, or something that I definitely did not ask for. 

"Stupid human. All that money would have been better spent on Fancy Feast for me!"

Looking at all this another way, you could say that I simply paid the tuition cost for Handbag Design 101. Talk about a hands-on learning experience. No independent study course I took in undergrad or grad school compares to what I’ve gone through these last few months.

Please note that the following handbags represent first prototypes and serious blunders. This blog documents our trials and errors and tracks our progress from inexperienced start-up to launching the Taryn Zhang brand. Please bear that in mind as you look through these photos and illustrations.

I sat there stunned at what I saw. I have spoken with designers who warned me this might happen, who recounted to me how this happened to them. My husband James, who has truly been a partner in this endeavor, came over and patted me on the shoulder. “There, there now. You didn’t think this was going to be a walk in the park, did you?”

It is so easy to point the finger and blame anyone but yourself, but the truth here is the only one to blame is me. The samples came out looking exactly like or at least very close to my sketches, except… they don’t look… good! And that’s why it’s nobody’s fault but mine, since I’m the one who did the sketches. A lot of the error– okay, who am I kidding– all of the error can be attributed to my complete lack of experience.

Below are 3 of the initial designs that at this point will very likely be edited out of the final Alpha Collection. These 3 couldn’t be straying further from the brand’s intended point of view, that is, aside from the more obvious condition of ugliness. Unless I can manufacture up a miracle, this post will probably be the last you see of these 3 designs.

Oh, and try to ignore the colors and material choice. I know– how do you ignore a train wreck? But in terms of material, I’m still experimenting. All I know for sure is it has to be the highest quality vegan leather I can find. No PVC (poly-vinyl chloride) and no plasticky, rubbery, nylony textures.

See how there is nothing wrong with the craftsmanship, and the sample of the Kindred Spirit is about as close to the sketch as it will probably ever get; and yet it is so far divorced from my original vision. I wanted the construction to be a bit more shell-like, a bit harder, glossier, not matte, and stand on its own, sturdy. The actual sample looks pillowy.

And what was I thinking with the colors?! It looks like I took a panda and turned it into a bag. I mean…here I am calling it vegan?! (Folks, please note that no pandas were actually harmed in the making of this bag.)

With the Peripatetic, I really wanted to capture the circle shape. We’re just not getting there for some reason. I’m not entirely clear why. Also, I thought I had selected a very light gray-greenish hue, but the actual color of the material is, um…duly unpleasant? It’s like a rotton-broccoli-green. :: mopes ::

Also, the stripes aren’t as I had imagined them either. I imagined a very thick, broad stripe of black, and then a stripe of dark chocolate brown trimming, and a light pink trimming, more like the sketch. Again, I may not have adequately communicated my visions. Heck, it’s pretty clear I didn’t since, above all else, the bag is still not a circle!

As for the above Duchess, no comment. I mean, what can I comment with? It looks like pleated poop. (Pardon how undignified I sound.)

July 2009, First Conception of The Duchess

The main problem (paradoxically enough) is that the samples to the right are more cartoony than the cartoons of the designs to the left.

I will say this: quality of the bags are up to par. From the reinforced stitching to the detailing, it’s all there. And that further confirms the theory that it’s my fault, not anyone else’s.

Designers love to say, “They just don’t get me.” Like it’s other people’s shortcoming for not being telepathic. At least I’m not delusional. I can see what’s going on here. I didn’t put any distance between my design conceptions and my rationality before sending the specs off to the factory. I thought what I had was fantabulous. Now I’m confronted with how utterly un-fantabulous the original design conceptions were. Now I’m hyper-insecure with all my other designs. I’ve sketched out the Beta Collection already, and parts of the Gamma. Are those designs equally un-fantabulous and I’m just too callow to acknowledge it?

Am I embarrassed to be posting these? Oh, definitely. I can’t believe these were my designs. I did these. I have always prided myself for being artsy, for possessing an artistic eye, for having a great sense of aesthetic, and yet I designed these. That is why I am feeling disappointed today. I’m disappointed at myself.

My original vision for the Modernist was a clutch just big enough to fit a literary journal or small notebook, and styled in a way that would conform to the dress code of most evening functions. Every girly-girl told me that an evening clutch shouldn’t be that big; it should fit a lip gloss, compact, a smartphone, some currency, and that’s it. Maybe I’m just a packrat, but that is not it for me, and that became crystal clear when I attended one of those formal galas and found myself dreadfully bored, in need of reading material. I had none, because the purse I carried would never have fitted a book.

Enter the Modernist. An evening clutch for the modernist woman, a woman who cannot go anywhere without a paperback or small diary. It’d come in a metallic silver with gold trimming; another in a sheeny black; sheeny red; etc.

For my sample, I ordered one in metallic silver with gold trimming.

Then the first round of prototypes came in and I realized this was not going to work out. I decided to change completely the idea behind the Modernist.

I turned it into a portfolio, now a day clutch of sorts, a modernist interpretation of that old black thing we used to take with us to job interviews, presentations, or conferences. Now the Modernist would fit a writing notepad, like the ones found in portfolios, and have compartments for organized storage of resumes, handouts, and such. The style is chic enough to express a feminine personality, but conservative and “boring” enough to fit into any corporate culture.

Excited, I turned my revision notes and changed measurements in to the manufacturer. They confirmed receipt and started work on it.

One night later, it dawned on me that I completely forgot to tell the manufacturer to modify the colors. I had ordered the original evening clutch Modernist in metallic colors, which would have worked well for its original party-party purposes, but a job interview or conference portfolio Modernist in silver and gold?!?! Exactly. Guess it’d depend what kind of job interview or conference one was going to, but generally the idea of a flashy metallic portfolio is borderline absurd.

SO. Realizing that I have now changed my mind “like a girl changes clothes” (love that song, btw), I nervously approached the manufacturer and asked whether I could change the colors for my sample order on the Modernist. These samples are to be shown to prospective wholesale buyers, and if I’m pitching the Modernist to them as a career portfolio and then whip out a big 9.75″ x 13.5″ disco ball of a thing to show, I won’t be taken seriously.

I wanted to change the sample to a light or medium gray, with black trimming.

The manufacturer, in kinder more professional words, told me, “No more changes!” And the answer was no. By April, I am going to be getting a Modernist portfolio in shiny silver and gold. I have NOOO clue what I am going to do with that thing.

I just e-mailed one final plea to change the colors of the Modernist sample “regardless of material.” I am begging them to use any old business-y colors they have on hand to make the sample — black, brown, navy, a dark subdued red, gray, any boring color at all will do, just not silver and gold. Pray, pray…

Now, off to Lake Tahoe for the weekend. That’s my light at the end of a long, exhausting tunnel of a week. Nothing has been going right these last 5 days in either my day job or this purse business. A quick getaway is long overdue.

Photo Update: James & Sunny, Reno, NV; Lake Tahoe weekend getaway