*World Exclusive*
Last year I found myself in San Francisco with work and I really wanted to catch up with my friend (a term I don’t use lightly) Doug Murdoch from ThinkTank Photo (he’s the president of the company and also the chief designer). I first got to know Doug via email after seeing the Speed Demon and the best memory card holder I have ever used, the Pixel Pocket Rocket. In fact, we loved it so much we ordered some custom made BPPA branded ones. We have since kept in touch and this year I’m really pleased to be on the design board of the company.
Doug Murdoch and Deanne Fitzmaurice looking through fabrics
Over the years I’ve had many chats with Doug, Mike Sturm and Lily Fisher, and the reason its a pleasure to be on the design board is that this is a group of talented designers who love what they do, and most importantly want to listen to photographers to ensure that their bags and pouches are the best available. This, I knew, as time and time again, it had been proven to me (apart from a small satchel, all my bags are ThinkTank Photo). What I wasn’t prepared for though, was how much fun the gang is! So, back to my story…
I end up finding a fun pattern!
I hooked up with Doug, Lily and Deanne Fitzmaurice (who won a Pulitzer Prize in 2005 and is an essential part of the company). Now, being from England, they guessed I’d like to go for tea, so that’s exactly what we did! We had a splendid time at a great tea place in SF. During our chit chat and generally catching up, Doug mentioned that they were going to check out a fabric store to see what was new and asked if I’d like to tag along. Now, being a photographer, I’ve never taken an interest in fabrics! Partly out of politeness and partly out of curiosity, I agreed and off we went.
Some of the designs available
This place was huge! There was floor after floor of fabric; every colour, every pattern and every weave you could imagine. That’s when Doug finally revealed the plan; part of the idea was to try a kind of design exercise and make some very limited edition Pixel Pocket Rockets! We split up and spent almost two hours looking at the funkiest fabrics we could find. After we’d picked our favourites, we had a “meeting” and finally chose several patterns to go for. I must admit, against all preconceptions, I had a great time choosing fabrics!
These are all the available designs
Months passed and assignments came and went and eventually I forgot of the “limited edition funkiest ever memory card holders known to mankind”. Then an email dropped from Lily with an attached photograph of these gems! Lily mentioned that 150 had been made. I think you’ll agree, they are fabulous! Lily kindly sent me a few and they are a very treasured item! If you see me on the street and ask nicely, and preferably bring me an espresso, I may show you mine!
UPDATE: The folks at ThinkTank Photo are planning on giving away these funky card holders to anyone who completes a special survey. This is yet to go live, so to keep in the loop, I suggest you visit http://www.thinktankphoto.com/ and put in your email address in the box labelled “Be The First To Know” / “New Product Updates” on the front page. Good luck 🙂
Addendum: Good news! The survey is now online. Simply visit the Limited Edition Pixel Pocket Rocket Survey and fill in the short form. Good luck!
Addendum 2: Anyone who was having difficulty before, please note that the link above has been updated. There were some technical issues before which have since been sorted out by the company doing the survey. Good luck!
Photo This & That 