I was the brand’s design director from day one — website, identity, promotional materials, branding. But my main job was creating products from scratch and taking them to market.

I did the research, designed the products, and supervised production at every stage. In short, I did my best to make sure each product was relevant to the market, looked unique, and was excellent inside and out.

The process of creating a new product usually looked like this:

• Market research, competitor analysis, customer surveys
• Sketching a series of options and discussing them with the team
• Creating a detailed layout of the chosen variant
• Selecting materials (and sourcing new ones if needed)
• Writing technical specifications and agreeing them with the production team
• Overseeing the first sample
• Inspecting and testing the sample, noting flaws and defects
• Showing the sample on social media to collect feedback
• Discussing flaws and possible changes with the team
• Revising the specs and layout for production, then repeating the cycle until the sample is fully satisfying
• Approving the final sample with the team
• Launching the product and checking the quality of the first batch
• Briefing the photographer
• Continuously collecting feedback through social media, direct customer comments, and sales data
• Working on an updated version when the brand concept evolved or enough customer requests had piled up

Over 12 years in the field, I’ve learned how to turn ideas into finished products that meet market expectations, relying on a good eye and attention to detail. Most of what I created was interesting, well made, and in demand; customers liked the brand and the products. Of course there were failures too, and I learned a lot from them. The main lesson: what you like isn’t necessarily what others like. Don’t bend reality to your wishes.

Solving complex (and sometimes seemingly dead-end) problems is probably the most valuable experience I’ve gained. Ideas rarely worked on the first try; it often took many attempts before a viable product emerged. Hundreds of sketches, drawings and discussions eventually cracked problems that had looked unsolvable.

We went remote before it was cool. A few years after founding the brand, I moved far from Moscow, where the office and production were, and ended up working remotely for more than seven years. Not very common for this kind of business, but it turned out to be quite doable. I communicated with the team, production, and partners over chat and calls; samples and materials came by courier. I learned to delegate everything that didn’t need me personally.

Here’s how I worked, using the Heritage accessories collection as an example.

My role: design, research (in part), ideation, launch.

At Handwers we initially aimed at the mid-price segment. Our core products use expensive materials and R&D costs are high, so retail prices are high too. After several years of sales data, customer conversations and market analysis, we decided to release a less expensive collection based on our popular models. At the time, cheaper leather accessories from local makers were mostly handmade from thick leather.

We asked customers — current and potential — what matters most when they choose an accessory for themselves. The top answers: design (to stand out), functionality (it has to fit in a pocket, after all), and a moderate price (of course). So: relatively inexpensive, functional products with a design that breaks from the classic look.

We took several popular models as a base and added a few new ones — eight in total. To keep costs down, we used a single layer of dense but relatively thin leather. This cut production costs significantly and, at the same time, defined the collection’s aesthetics and the limits of what the products could do. The brief: compact, functional, inexpensive products with a handmade feel. We named the collection Heritage and made blue its base color, which instantly sets it apart from everything else on our website.

We hit our goal: eight less expensive but no less attractive models, six of which have stood the test of time and are still in production. The collection now accounts for a significant share of our sales; it brought in a new audience and lifted total sales. It also helped us keep demand up during the COVID-19 crisis and, as expected, sells well to corporate clients.

That’s how I created physical products at Handwers. I also worked on the brand’s digital side — for example, here’s how I solved the tracking-number problem in our online store.