Branding + Product Design
Spree
A Diabetes Travel Kit
Welcome to Spree! I am a type one diabetic, and I have been since I was 9, I use a pump and a CGM and I was planning my first trip overseas shortly before starting this project. I noticed I was becoming increasingly nervous about travelling overseas, as I was worried about forgetting essential diabetes supplies, having my supplies removed from my care or even losing my supplies while travelling.
I thought that the best way to remedy this would be to create a travel kit. It’s a two-tiered bag, with a cooling pouch, and a checklist. The travel kit ensures all diabetes supplies stay together, that insulin is kept within the manufacturer’s temperature guidelines and that nothing is forgotten. I took the time to design, test and sew the kit myself.
Process
My research centred around the amount of people worldwide who have Type One Diabetes, and the percentage of those people who were diagnosed at the age of 30 or under.
I also looked into the recommended temperature to store insulin, how many people in the world use insulin therapy to manage their diabetes, and the biggest fear that Type 1 Diabetic travellers have when travelling.
Upon further in-depth research, I found that the average time someone would travel away from home was a week. Using this information I based the size of the travel kit on the amount of supplies someone would need while away for a week. I also took into consideration that if someone was going away they would have zero access to any extra supplies, therefore the kit would need to have space for not just a week's worth, but backups too. The image to the left is what a week's worth of diabetes supplies looks like, these supplies also display backup plans if something were to fail.
At this stage, I also did a very basic sketch of a potential bag design. However I didn’t take into account how this would fit into someone's carry-on bag while travelling, or the amount of supplies that would be needed, and I came to the result that this design wasn’t viable.
To help me gain a better understanding of what is needed when travelling overseas, I interviewed a Type One Diabetic friend of mine who has done overseas travel. I asked what she pictured the kit to look like, and I did a sketch based on her description.
From the sketch, I found a bag that was of a similar design, and I tested if I could fit a week's worth of supplies into it. Unfortunately, this was a failed test, as the bag was too small and flat to house all the supplies.
After gaining some inspiration from a toiletry bag I designed a three-tiered bag that featured a cooling compartment in the middle. I sketched this new idea and found that it would have enough room for all the supplies and would work well to be able to integrate a cooling compartment for the insulin.
After success with a low-fi prototype, I then sewed a Mid-fi prototype, this prototype allowed me to properly test if a week's worth of diabetes supplies would fit in this design.
This was a great visual representation of the kit, however it was not structurally sound, due to some sewing skill issues. However, it did help me make some adjustments for the hi-fi prototype.
When starting the logo development I started by creating 4 logo ideations. I used the more happy and bubbly looking fonts, as I wanted Spree to evoke those feelings in people. And I used the birds because they represent freedom.
I further ideated those first four logos into different colours, using the Spree colour palette.
I was able to receive user testing on my last logo variations, and I narrowed it down to what I have above. I then tried the logo in different fonts and further user tested them.
This logo is the result of the final round of user testing, it features the Fabiola font in a composition with the birds above.
Lastly after receiving some feedback from my lecturers, I ultimately decided to remove the birds, as it felt too busy and overthought. And I finished off the logo journey with a wordmark using the font Fabiola.
My last step before creating my final outcome was to develop a mid-fi prototype of the cooling pouch. This prototype went incredibly well, and I was able to make note of some adjustments for the final outcome.
