Development of a pencil case

A pencil case is nice and simple, right? Not so much. As with everything else on this site, I decided to develop my own against a pretty simple brief:

A foldable and easily transportable case with storage, pencil slots and space for two A6 notepads.

Where to start? Design. There are plenty of artists or tool rolls out there but none seemed to fit my requirements. They were too big, too basic or just too expensive. Don’t get me wrong, there are some very nice ones out there. My inspiration for this design came from simply joining two cases together at the bottom and adding slots on what would be the inside - creating a secure place to put my pens and pencils. And if you are as obsessed with quality tools as I am, you want somewhere your gear will be safe.

The first iteration of this idea was in waxed canvas. Everyone loves a bit of waxed canvas. It did not work out well. The thick material was great as a pencil case but when the slots were included, it made the whole case too thick and heavy. I also used poppers to hold it together but they struggled to keep it closed when full up. So back to the drawing board I went.

It’s a prototype, don’t judge me too harshly.

A rethink was in order. Starting with different material. I opted for lightweight but highly waterproof nylon and I really hated the poppers so went for webbing and buckles. I also changed the zips down to No.3 rather the No.5 in the first prototype.

With that I was almost there. The buckles worked fine but added some bulk to it and some unnecessary steps to get into it. Maybe a bit too secure. So I ditched the buckles and swapped out for velcro on the back and to the webbing - a simpler more streamlined way to secure it closed.

And here we have the final version, in black nylon with 8 pen slots and 2 slots for A6 notebooks. Velcro on the back (or front, whatever) and on the webbing, with No.3 zips and zipper pulls.

Is that the end of the journey? Nope. The case looks even better in EcoPak but due to the cost of that fabric, it pushes the price up. I have tried to keep the cost as low as possible, otherwise I fall into the trap I hated to start with - charging too much!

I’m sure development won’t stop there. I’m already thinking about using g-hook instead of velcro as that may be a cleaner look to the case but I do like the space for a patch. And what about pockets on the outside, between the webbing….