Page 93 - Entrepreneur-November 2018

Hard Part of a Cool Product

Printing Pressure

A whimsical design on a startup’s debut product was supposed to be a playful flourish. It ended up being the
most challenging aspect—one that took 18 months to perfect. by MAGGIE WILEY

ichael Kushner they commissioned high- ration is nearly impossible. in. She loved the product, had
and Andy Person profile designer Jessica Walsh Factories kept turning them attended business school, and
did not create to create a kooky monkey- down, unwilling to go through wanted to try making it work.
the Baboon and- dinosaur pattern for the the amount of costly trial and So for another nine months, the
Go-Bag for bag’s waterproof lining. It was error it would take to perfect founders and their new partner
people who exactly the kind of touch their the print. (They also worried mixed Pantones, examined 15
want to scale a customer would love…but get- about betting on a little startup.) to 20 samples a week, and kept
M mountain. Their ting it right would stall their Nine months and 35 rejections tweaking. “It was about making PHOTOGR APH COURTESY OF BABOON
stylish duffel-meets-backpack company for nearly two years. later, Kushner and Person this blue a little lighter, or mak-
is for the creative class—peo- Printing bright colors and were struggling. Then they ing this brown a little darker,”
ple who might want to take details on a ripstock-style fabric found hope in Vietnam: After says Kushner. Finally, they got it.
an easy hike, then check into turns out to be challenging. a factory owner there said no, “The prints come alive.” (From
a trendy Airbnb. That’s why The colors bleed, and satu- the owner’s daughter stepped $175; baboontothemoon.com)

22 / ENTREPRENEUR.COM / November 2018