This foldable armadillo-beetle-like backpack from the future is a lightweight glossy beauty with a tough shell.
Hand assembled and manufactured entirely in the Netherlands, the Solid Gray backpack is cut and folded out of a single sheet of hi-tech plastic called ‘polypropene’. This is an extremely durable and hard-wearing material. It is so strong that even if you bend it millions of times it will not break.
Solid Gray is hard on the outside but lined with durable EPDM foam on the inside. It has straps inside to safely store away your laptop or tablet and clever compartments for small items. Hard on your back? I don’t think so. Solid Gray’s unique folding design gives the backpack a flexible soft fit with comfortable shoulder straps.
Solid Gray is the brainchild of Lijmbach, Leeuw & Vormgeving, a product design agency founded by Herman Lijmbach and Jasper de Leeuw.
??Both Herman and Jasper graduated from the internationally acclaimed Design Academy Eindhoven, in the Netherlands in 2007 and started their collaboration soon after.
??The Lijmbach, Leeuw & Vormgeving offices and workshop are located in one of the former Philips factories in Eindhoven. These factories are now a lively and bustling melting pot of businesses in the creative and design industry.
“Even though we already have this rather hands-on approach to design, the technical complexity of the Solid Gray backpack has caused us to develop a staggering amount of prototypes. We were convinced all technical details could be integrated in the same material: locks, clasps and sliders are all cut and folded just like the rest of the backpack. We use drawings and cardboard models just as well as cnc prototypes in order to figure out the design and all its details”, said Solid Gray’s creators. “Luckily, there is a huge number of industrial and technological partners based around Eindhoven. Besides this, we have our own workshop right next to our office. These things help us to create very flexible work flow: we can tinker at something new in the morning, then take a look at the prototype production after lunch.”
Each backpack has its own unique serial number, and can be ordered worldwide via www.solid-gray.com for an price of 139 euro.
