I've always been handy. When I was just six years old, I could fix my own bike – I was able to take the wheels off, put them back on and replace the chain. Intuitively, I could place myself in a product and understand how it worked.
My father had a garage next to our house where I could shut the doors and concentrate on making things. Super-focus is my talent – I get into a flow and everything starts to happen.
I used to connect bikes by taking the wheels off and connecting the front of one to the rear of another; I once created a multi-seated tandem out of ten bikes. I had a friend who was also very practical and we made some amazing things together. I remember I had my first moped when I was ten and we created special tyres for it with metal pins so we could ride it on ice.
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My fascination with wheels all came down to speed and wanting to be faster than everyone else. I like the sense of freedom and doing something smart and my ideas were often funny as well as clever. Then, as a designer, you have to learn how to integrate beauty and the picture is complete.
I went to engineering school, but the emphasis was wrong for me. So I changed to humanities and this led me to study government administration – a far cry from design. I was conscripted into the army, but I refused to do military service, so I did community service. During this time, a lot of people noticed my talent and encouraged me to go to Eindhoven University to study design.
My big break came when I launched the Bugaboo Stroller in 1999. I'd seen parents struggling with the combination of stroller, bike and baby and I knew there must be a better way. While I was at Eindhoven – now more than 20 years ago, in 1994 – I designed a stroller that was more dynamic, smooth and stylish and that could be adapted over time so people could keep it for generations.
I don't actually start by thinking about solutions, but instead about market and business opportunities. That's what I did with strollers and now I've done it with luggage cases. What you see in the suitcase market is they're all the same – they use the same parts and the same suppliers, so there's a massive opportunity to be different.
I designed the Bugaboo Boxer luggage as a modular system made up of a chassis, organiser, large travel case, laptop case and smaller cabin case with inner bag, all of which can be connected together as one piece or used separately. But whereas most traditional luggage trolleys and suitcases are designed to be pulled behind you, what sets the Bugaboo Boxer cases apart is the light-push steering, which means users can steer them effortlessly along in front.
Daring to be different is key. It's about finding the opportunity in the market, designing to fill that gap and making it the best you can.
MAX BARENBRUG, co-founder and chief designer at Bugaboo, has always been fascinated by movement and personal transport. He designed the now-iconic Bugaboo Stroller in 1994 and the Bugaboo Boxer luggage system is his latest creation; bugaboo.com
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