Peak Design Everyday Backpack - Good Design or Cool Design?

Peak Design continues its crowd-funding success on Kickstarter with the Everyday Backpack. As of writing, the campaign surpassed $3 million with 21 days remaining.

Good Design?

This must be the most over-engineered backpack. The myriad of features are useful. But not all at once, and not without limitations. Having more features means more ways to fail.

At the heart of good design is simplicity. According to Dieter Rams, good design is as little design as possible.

Leaving out the non-essentials and strengthening the core features is not merely for the aesthetic quality. Abraham Wald increased the survivability of World War II aircraft by diverting efforts away from reinforcing the most damaged areas to the unscathed areas. These unscathed areas are the core features that kept the aircraft flying.

An Alternative Approach

Billingham understands that longevity is determined by the weakest link - the protective interior. Protective materials degrades and lose their elastic property over time. Its replaceable protective insert ensures the product is a lifelong investment, and not just the latest disruptive gadget.

Furthermore, Peak Design's worst-case-scenario approach is excessive and wasteful. Even Micro Four Thirds camera users or prime lens users will find the Everyday Backpack to be an overkill. For the average consumer, protecting the camera in a camera pouch and using their existing backpack is a more sensible solution.

The Sales Pitch is Brilliant

Everyday Backpack promotion video immerses the viewer in an idealistic lifestyle where the backpack is useful at every turn. The price is revealed at the end, well after the viewer is hooked. Vital information such as comparison with similar products and third-party reviews are omitted. It seems that well-made lifestyle videos are the new norm to sell products; a welcomed departure from infomercial.

Perhaps Jerry Seinfeld is right: we buy things because we want to believe. We want a neatly packaged solution that solves all our problems.

We are a hopeful species. Stupid but hopeful.
(Jerry Seinfeld)

The Upshot

The Everyday Backpack is perfect for professionals who carry heavy and expensive gear on a daily basis. However, the backpack is an overkill for everyday use for the most of us, despite what Peak Design's marketing department says.

P.S. How many Everyday Backpack backers also backed the upcoming Dieter Rams documentary?

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