Seasons keep changing, time keeps moving — and I’ve been an absent steward on our blog during the last half of 2017. It’s been a hell of a year for Badass Backpacks. And as I shift gears to sweep out the dust and fibers to close out the year – I can’t help but feel incredibly excited for what 2018 will look like. We’re always just beginning. Always. It’s an amazing feeling to look back on 2017, to travel over to our storage unit and see all the artifacts, bag parts, sample fabrics, a growing stack of filled sketch-notebooks, and the bags… the bags are getting better each step of the way, putting a huge smile on my face.
Creative Arc
In wrapping up the year, Rusty and I have had a chance to joyfully look back and reflect. We notice that the creative arc of this project has magically been evolving, drip by drip. Where’ve we been? Where are we now? And where does our story take us next? We began with a big question: can we make a Badass Backpack? One bag, one artist. In 2016, we began selling our first production, Sincerity Inside, artwork by Cheryl Hicks. Next up, can we make a set of bags? Multiple bags, one artist. In 2017, we began selling the bag series, Self Reflection, artwork by Eli Halpin. But can we move a bit faster? Can we create a set of bags all at one time that showcase several artists? The Custom 20. 6 different bags, 5 different artists. It was a blast to show off The Custom 20 bags at EAST (East Austin Studio Tour) during November, 2017. New artwork, new mediums and styles, new themes, and new stories.
What’s next for Badass Backpacks? What does more look like? What does better look like? How do we grow this business? How do we amplify the things that are resonating? How do we flourish? How do make even more beautiful backpacks? How do we take big steps forward? Have we made space to think 10 steps ahead? What does 10 steps ahead look like? What trees have we planted? What’s our next big risk? What things have we learned? Have we changed our minds about anything? How can we help more people on their journeys? How can we engage our community in asking big questions? How can we improve our storytelling? Are there things that we are overthinking? Where can we make things easier? Are there things we can nix off the task list, or move to the back burner? Where are we shying away from important work? What are we afraid of? What are the next decisions that need to be made?
What does 2018 look like?
It’s looking quite different. Thank you to those of you that have been following this blog. I like having it here, where I can jump in to post something when it feels like the time to do it. Stay subscribed or unsubscribe from the blog as you desire. But I want you to be the first of the first to know: we will be changing some things up in 2018. That includes some changes to how we communicate and how we share stuff. While the blog will still be place where you hear from us time to time, we’re going to be shifting most of our storytelling time to something new. As our original first followers — I’ll be adding all of our blog subscribers onto that email list where we’ll start rolling out a more regular update behind the scenes of our work.
I’ll make sure to post more details about this change in early 2018 so that you can know what to expect.
In the meantime: I am so grateful that you’re here now. Your support for Badass Backpacks has helped us make something beautiful. I can’t wait for you to see what’s coming next.