The Wallet Project
For my first prototyping assignment, I found myself tasked with designing a wallet or purse to fit a classmate's needs.  Upon speaking with one of my fellow students about what she did and did not care for in her purse, I came up with the following design.



An exterior view of the purse.



This bag admittedly follows a similar external design to the one owned by the classmate.  However, she showed frustration with her purse's inability to house her phone as well as its lack of accommodation for credit cards.

The unfolded purse.  From left to right: Phone case, card holder, cash slot,
miscellaneous storage.

As a result, I overhauled her purse's basic "pouch" design and transformed it into more of a "wallet" design.  Because I did not have a Samsung Galaxy S4 like my classmate, I opted to used my own Nokia Lumia 1520 for the initial prototype as a proof of concept.  The wallet opens to unveil a phone case, along with a location for storing credit cards, a place for cash, and finally a pouch designed for holding whatever might be on one's person.

Miscellaneous storage pouch.

The primary construction was based around a computer paper substrate.  This may not be the most graceful way to prototype a product, however it is ultimately quite versatile and effective.  Reinforcement with transparent tape in select locations ensure that the wallet remains sturdy.  Finally, a piece of black fabric was adhered to the outside of the wallet in order to provide a more professional outward appearance.  A line of parachute cording run through holes in the wallet's body finishes the wallet, making it more portable and accessible.

External view showing camera and flash access.

The initial design called for a mobile battery pack for keeping the phone "topped up" on power.  Unfortunately, due both to cost constraints and my own inexperience with crafting items such as this wallet, I opted not to include this feature.  If I were to create another iteration of the design, I would integrate the battery while improving the fitting of the phone and fining a better point of balance for the cording.