Hear from our Designer Amy about the inspiration behind the Veske Usan Utility Pouch. The Veske Usan Utility Pouch is a multi-function accessory, ideal for busy lifestyles and functional fashion. Designed and made at our workshop in Montrose, Scotland.
Designed to be small enough to keep your essentials in and carried under your arm. Or, used as a handy pouch to store smaller belongings in, when out and about. Our Usan Utility pouch is also a great addition to our James Weekend Bag to keep your smaller belongings all together in one place.
In this journal entry, Amy our designer delves into some of the inspiration behind our products and where our ideas came from. As well as our own product archive which inspired a lot of the Veske Heritage Collection and the brand as a whole, we also visited the Scottish Mountain Heritage Archive back in July 2018 when the development of Veske began.
Scottish Mountain Heritage Archive
One day in July 2018 myself and another member of the Veske development team left Angus and drove across the Scottish countryside to a place called Glen Roy. Glen Roy is based in the Lochaber area of the Highlands and has the most amazing surrounding scenery. The purpose of the visit to the archive was to look at some historical examples of bags, clothing and accessories used by Mountain rescuers, hikers and adventurers – and it didn’t disappoint.
We were met by Mick Tighe, the custodian of the archive and he showed us around. The archive boasts an amazing assortment of mountain memorabilia from Scotland and around the world, which has been collected together and is also documented on their website here: Scottish Mountain Heritage Collection
Combining Ideas
A few key pieces caught my interest as a designer, particularly an old military backpack from World War Two. The webbing detail on the product on the archive piece was sewn in an interesting way and in a V shape. This would have had a functional purpose at the time, perhaps to support the closure function, however I was looking at it from an aesthetic point of view. The V shape from this archive piece went on to inspire a lot of the Veske Heritage Collection in more ways than one. (See the Archive Piece here: Military WW2 Backpack)
Another product from the archive was a rucksack which had a detachable lid. When speaking with Mick about the functionality of those features and what it would have been used for, Mick explained it was the case that the detachable lid would have been used to hold essentials. This would meant that it could be detached so that you may not need to carry your large bag around with you when stopping off somewhere. This idea really took my interest and the idea of creating a product which you would use to hold your essentials or keep them separate in a larger bag was created, and later the Usan Utility Pouch was created.
Back at the Studio
Back at the workshop after our trip to the Scottish Mountain Heritage Collection, I worked through the photographs I had taken of the pieces at the archive. I created a number of boards with details of interest and combined these ideas with other points of interest that I had already researched. Alongside the archive products from our past company, new ideas working alongside the old kept the collection in line with our core values. See one of my boards from the Studio here: Veske Studio
Craftsmanship. Value. Understated. Classic Design. Functional details. Transitional, lasting through seasons. The combination of various aspects together, looking to the old and new are how the Veske Heritage Collection was created and how it will move into the future too.
Many thanks to Mick for having us at the Scottish Mountain Heritage Archive back in 2018.
Cover Photograph taken by Sarah Ferguson – Sarah Ferguson
Veske is a bag & accessories brand that focuses on hand manufacturing products in Scotland, with heritage, craftsmanship, people and design at the core.
