The TentLab

I created TheTentLab to introduce highly specialized and experimental tents (and occasionally other things) to the world to see what real users think of them. I’m not just trying to sell you a tent, I’m trying to talk to you about tents and in the process, yes, I hope that some of you will want the revolutionary tents I’m making.
• The tents are specialized because they have been shaped by a unique set of non-mainstream preferences and tradeoffs. They definitely don't fit a “they're for everyone,” marketing story.
• The tents are experimental not because they might not work, they’re experimental because they’re unique – no one really knows if there are customers out there for them.
• The tents are crafted works which represent the state-of-the-art of tent and design. I present these tents with full and honest disclosure of their inherent tradeoffs and benefits. It’s a marketing model I wish would catch on.

As a freelance designer, I've worked for a slew of companies. And over that time, I’ve come to the understanding that there really are huge limits — both internal and external — on what a mainstream brand can offer. Each brand has its own Manifest Destiny that motivates and directs their activities down to remarkably small detail. They can’t deviate from their paths without the risk of losing their identity and their sales. The net result is that there’s just a ton of stuff that they can’t, won’t or shouldn’t do. I believe this has left lots of holes in the kinds of products being offered and, as a designer, I’d like to explore some of those spaces with you, the customer.

Which brings me to another of my goals for TheTentLab, to connect with tent users without the filters and biases that overrun the usual communication channels (if those channels even exist at all). I want to hear directly from tent users - what they think, what they believe, what they care about, and what they have problems with.