Overview

Create a business opportunity through design

I was the industrial designer for Samsonite, designing one-third of the products sold in Mexico and Latin America.

The products included luggage, portfolios, totes, accessories, backpacks, and schoolbags. 

Lines such as schoolbags required an incredibly complex workflow that started 16 months before product distribution to the retail stores.

This process included the product proposal, target and sales forcast, clients' research, focus groups, asking for material samples from the far east, concept generation, overseeing samples creation, final design documents (with technical drawings, material samples and bill of materials), sales presentations, marketing material creation, monitoring materials for production, checking the firts runs in lines ensuring products were produced by design specifications and more. 

A back-to-school line could include 30-40 models, each with up to 30 materials and specifications, which meant everything had to be carefully planned. Communications between departments were vital, but the results made me proud. All this work was rewarded with people loving the products. I saw children many times refusing to take any product that was not a Samsonite bag and appreciating the designs.