James Jeffrey is part of the design team for Bellroy’s Coin Fold. He’s a Melbourne lad, and moved to Bells Beach to be with Bellroy, after ten years of chasing design around the world. We caught up with James to find out how Vietnam, London and Melbourne feed into his work, and what goes on behind the scenes at Bellroy’s design HQ.
- What brought you to Bellroy?
I’d been working abroad for 10 years and was feeling a pull back to Australia. Mainly, I think, for family and also, after 7 years in London, a change of pace was starting to feel very welcome.
I’d been in contact with Andy for a few years and had done some guest posts for Carryology. I knew that he was on the hunt for a designer and a quick call resulted in me landing a job with Bellroy. It all happened within a few weeks.
Packing up a young family and closing a business, on the other hand, took much longer.
2. Describe your design approach in a country, continent and city.
Australia
I studied design in Melbourne and Australia means a lot to me. As a nation we’re positive, drawn to teamwork, and will pretty much try anything. That definitely influences my design, approach to life and the seizing of opportunities.
Asia
I also lived and worked in Ho Chi Minh City for 3 years. I was a designer for Crumpler and got to work directly with their sample rooms and factories.
I learnt what it takes to make a product, what’s actually involved, and what happens after you send a sketch, or request a sample.
Having studied how soft goods were made, sewn together, and built, it was amazing to see and understand how many hands touch the things we buy and use. I think that most people would be surprised to know how much is involved in the things that we own.
London
In the UK I ran my own design studio and took on so much while I was there. London is a melting point of styles and the place to learn about taste, class, and how small features finish a product.
A walk through London’s retail areas can provide more brand context within half a day than a month of trawling web reviews and blogs.
I picked up an understanding of aesthetically appropriate design through being able to see and feel so many different products in a huge range of retail environments.
3. Over the last ten years you’ve lived in Melbourne, Ho Chi Minh, London and Bell’s Beach. How did you manage to adapt from one environment to the next?
Each move has been a large one, from one extreme to the next. By having each new location so different from the last it’s impossible to draw comparisons, making it easier to embrace the new experience.
4. Tell us about your previous design experience and how it impacts your work now.
There are a couple of things that really stand out.
I’ve learnt about the process of design and how to find the opportunities within it — for example understanding the limitations of a sewing machine and what is and isn’t possible.
Also, running my own design agency gave me the opportunity to see design through many different lenses — niche brands, high-end fashion, start ups and successful Kickstarters. I had to change design mode 180 degrees from one day to the next, great for switching my thinking and keeping the work fresh.
5. Paint a picture of a day in Bellroy design HQ.
We start out with a morning coffee and stand-up meeting. The aim of the meeting is to cover off the priorities for the day, confirm project progress, and who will be working on what. Our projects are always in teams, with a leader, and we strive for flexibility in responsibilities. The best person for the job should be the one doing the job.
A key technique we use in design is rapid prototyping — a simple hacked wallet to validate the experience we’re aiming for is worth a heap of sketches.
I’ve had to adjust to this style of design development and am seeing the benefits of rapid mock ups over spec docs, especially when handed to our production partners.
A typical day is pretty hard to come by. What is crucial, though, is to make sure we check the surf, which is more about removing ourselves from our desk, getting some fresh air and giving ourselves a chance to reframe.
6. What excites you most about your latest project — the Coin Fold?
It’s got to be gesture — the way it works with your intuitive nature to throw coins in and tip them out. The whole team love that.
7. Tell us a situation where you think the Coin Fold comes into its element.
I think that it’s best suited to countries with high value coins — Japan, UK, Australia, and much of Europe. It helps with receiving change and making payments with change.
Being able to quickly deal with a handful of coins streamlines those small transactions.
When developing the Coin Fold we discussed currency habits with German, Japanese and British friends. There are different needs, wants, currency sizes and cultures to deal with, so it had to be flexible. This guided our design selection process.
8. Share some Coin Fold numbers with us.
2 design leads, 2 support designers
1 product development manager
1 chief executive
1 chief financial officer
1 creative director
1 project manager
14 concept directions (each made into a fully working leather prototype)
100+ prototypes (a mixture of paper, cardboard, leatherboard)
5 months of development
101 sold in the first day
9. Can you share a design breakthrough moment with us from during the development of the Coin Fold?
It happened while I was using one of our initial samples. I paid with a note and waited for my change, with the wallet and coin flap open.
The guy behind the counter looked at the wallet, lent forward and dropped the coins straight into it. It was actually kinda weird, a bit too close for comfort! But, it showed that the concept was intuitive and intriguing. Someone who had never seen it before understood it and felt compelled to use it.
10. Have you changed at all as a designer since you started working with Bellroy?
Yes. Previously I was working with many clients and projects, and while this was great at honing my ‘swapping design mode’ skills, it also meant if one project had an issue, all projects would suffer.
By changing to a single focus, a project can get as much time and attention as it needs without causing delay on other projects. This helps to focus the design process and moves better design through quicker.
The end result is being able to focus harder on something and ask an amazing question:
‘What would we do if this was our only project?’
Would we be on the phone with the supplier checking its status? Would we explore more colour options? Would we recheck all the details? Would we cut a sample apart to be 100% sure of how it works?
11. When you’re not designing new carry products, where do you get your kicks?
With my girls and in the water. Kids and surfing reframe priorities, help to freshen my ideas, and clear the mental cache.
12. What life lessons have your kids taught you?
I’m aiming to have two main values as being a dad: strength and calmness. I think that if you can master both — strength of conviction and purpose with calmness — a lot of other things will fall into place.
(After calmly negotiating a 3 year old back into bed at 3am, you have new tools to tackle your work discussions.)
13. And… we’ve got to ask. What’s in your carry quiver?
A couple of keys, Top secret Bellroy wallet prototype, and iPhone — I’m a carry minimalist. (Very different from my London days.)
Behind the scenes — Bellroy Instagram
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