Core77

We've poured through the entries, the crew at Timbuk2 have voted, and the winners of the latest 1 Hour Design Challenge have now been chosen!

First place (and prize!) goes to the Locker bag by Guntar, for his innovative acrobatics--melding a backpack with a locker-friendly form factor. Here are the judges: "This was not only a great concept, but a great presentation as well. We like how the functionality was well thought out, considering the needs of the everyday student. The fabric swatches were a great touch--it gave us a lot of ideas on how else the bag could look and feel. Critique: We'd like to know how long this really took him..." [Ouch!]

Second place goes to School Is Hell by jknodell. This bag spoke nicely to the vernacular, and you gotta love the call-out on the spray can holster: "Alternative use for beverages." Very green of you jknodell! Here are the judges' comments: "We loved this idea. We like how the designer took a concept that most kids could relate to and made a bag for them. The militaristic, modular theme really lends itself well to school bags, as everyone needs their bag to function differently for their personal requirements. Fabric is so important to this bag, helping to tell much of the story. We would want it to be a fabric and/or print that is true to our military. Also, give more thought to how the bag is worn."

Third place goes to vespaw's Hoodie Bag, which put a smile on all our faces and seemed pretty darn commercializable--and bloggable! Here are the judges: "Beautiful presentation, great sketches. We like the idea, and think kids would dig it too. We also like the idea of elastic rubber. Our overall impression is that more time was put into the sketch than the idea behind it."

The Timbuk2 judges were very impressed with the participants' ability to attack the problem in under an hour. Comments Senior Designer Bopanna Ulliyada, "Some designers had a design in their head from the very beginning, some started with the aesthetic, some thought about function first, some needed more time... The overall response and enthusiasm to the entire contest was great."

And their advice to those who didn't make the top 3?: "Though some of the designs were just as good as the final 3, the lack of sufficient explanation was the reason they weren't picked. This draws back to presentation skills and the need for call-outs on the sketches, or a brief write up on the sketch. Not everyone judging at Timbuk2 was a designer, and that's the norm in a real world situation."

Congratulations to everyone who participated in this 1 Hour Design Challenge, and enjoy your sweet custom Timbuk2 bag Guntar!

>>View all of the entries here!