History of the Mighty Wallet
PRODUCT - Mighty Wallet®
A wallet constructed from a single folded sheet of spun-bonded polyolefin (Tyvek® is a registered Trademark of DuPont™). High Density Polyethylene or H.D.P.E. a Grade #2 recyclable plastic.
MATERIALS
Tyvek® (Spun-bonded Polyolefin), Eco-friendly Soy based inks, White glue. Packaging; Tyvek® (Spun-bonded Polyolefin), steel grommet and poly sleeve.
TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS
Single Sheet of Tyvek 16 x 26" used to create wallet.
Wallet size closed 4 w x 3.25" h
Wallet size open 8 w x 3.25" h
DESIGNER
Terrence Kelleman
American, Born 1970
DATE OF CREATION
Initial design released in 2005
Redesign & Rebranding in 2007
COMPANY
Dynomighty Design, Inc.
Formed in 2002
Incorporated in 2004
DESCRIPTION
The Mighty Wallet is made from a single sheet of Tyvek® with a folded origami design that can adjust to release more storage capacity as it is filled. The Mighty Wallet design enhances the inherent properties of the material to be tear-resistant, water-resistant and recyclable as well as long lasting and eco-friendly.
HISTORY
The Mighty Wallet was first designed in 2005, originally called the "Ever-together Tyvek® Wallet", it released with 4 graphic patterns (Airmail, Dot matix, Newspaper and Shredded paper) the Mighty Wallet line has since grown to include over 300 unique graphic designs in 2014.
In 2007 a redesign of the credit card pocket created a more contained storage area and added a secondary main storage area for cash. The packaging was also redesigned adding a framed cardboard insert around the wallet and inside a clear PET envelope. The name was changed to "Mighty Wallet".
In 2010 the packaging was even further refined to use a single strip of Tyvek that traversed the wallet's interior and was folded and grommeted with a thin poly sleeve protecting the wallet from retail shelf wear.
The Mighty Wallet has been imitated by over 20 companies internationally creating a revolution in wallet design which has created an entire new genre of Tyvek wallet designs around the world.
LEGAL PROTECTIONS
The names "Mighty Wallet" "Dynomighty Design” “BE MIGHTY!" and "Mighty Strong, Mighty Thin, Mighty Green" are all registered US Trademarks of Dynomighty Design, Inc. The appearance and design of the 2010 packaging is also a registered Copyright. The US Patent No. 8,544,647 B2 issued on October 1, 2013.
DESIGN CHALLENGES
Setting the design challenge of creating a wallet from a single sheet of Tyvek® was established in order to maximize the inherent tensile strength of the Tyvek® material that gave the Mighty Wallet® many key advantages.
Eliminating stitching had four distinct design advantages;
1 - It simplified mass production.
2 - No holes in the material that would weaken the Tyvek® material.
3 - Having no parts or pieces that could be ripped it reduced the potential for wear & obsolescence
4 - Stitching is often the first source of wear and breakage.
Utilizing one single sheet of material had 3 design advantages
1 - Low tech
2 - Low energy
3 - Simplified production
Using only Tyvek in the construction gave the wallet many eco-friendly advantages;
1 - Recyclable
2 - 25% Post Consumer Content
3 - Low carbon footprint for shipping and distribution
4 - No leaching or changes in the chemical makeup of Tyvek®.
The Mighty Wallet had to address a series of design challenges to create the first ever folded wallet made of Tyvek® in both its manufacturing and origami design.
Design Needs
1 - Utilize one sheet of Tyvek
2 - Make a functional utilitarian wallet
3 - Avoid 90 degree cuts in the material which create weak points that could potentially tear.
4 - Avoid stitches by creating an "origami" design
Production Challenges
1 - Have low costs to production
2 - Ability to be mass produced
3 - Finding a suitable manufacturer
DESIGN FUNCTION
The functionality of a folded design created a thin, durable and fully resizable wallet that adjusts to each consumer's individual storage needs. The folding configuration allowed for the wallet to gradually adjust as it was filled to release more storage capacity while remaining only as thick as the materials put inside.
The specific thickness of the Tyvek® material chosen (1072D thickness, gram per inch) for the Mighty Wallet design had just enough thickness to create a slight tension when folded that kept the wallet construction from coming loose. The material was also not too thick that would keep the wallet from folding closed.
The Mighty Wallet was the first ever folded wallet of it's kind which with the use of Tyvek® material had the added advantages of being water-resistant, tear-resistant and recyclable. The eco-friendly aspects of the material are many including;
FEATURES & BENEFITS
Incredibly Thin
Lightweight
Expandable
Durable
Recyclable
25% Post-Consumer Content
Low carbon footprint
PH neutral
GRAPHIC DESIGNS
Many of the graphic designs reinforce the notion of paper such as the Airmail design (licensed by the United States Postal Service), Dot matrix Pi (which featured the first 3000 digits of pi printed in a Dot Matrix font style and complete with sprocket holes along both outside edges of the design). All internal designs created by Terrence Kelleman.
LICENSING & PARTNERSHIPS
The first major licensing partnerships included the Cambell’s Soup, The MTA, The USPS and CBS Consumer products. Other major licensing partners have included Sanrio, DC Comics, Marvel Comics, EA Games and Fox Entertainment.
Partnerships were created with exclusive designs for companies such as VANS, Target, The Metropolitan Museum, MoMA, Spacex and many others.
Artist licensing has included Shepard Fairey, Jeremyville, Ron English, Tokidoki, LAROC and Gary Taxali and we were granted exclusive rights to use the Fritz Kahn illustrations for a series of TED Talks wallets.
In December of 2013 we launched a collaboration with JapanLA releasing an exclusive line of Mighty Wallets. Working with world renowned brands Tokidoki, TKDK, and top tier artists 64 Colors, Aya Kakeda, TADO, Luke Chueh, and Camilla d’Errico.
SALES CHANNELS & DISTRIBUTION
Early sales came through museum stores and smaller gift retailers and the first ever inclusion in a catalog was by the Museum of Modern Art. The Mighty Wallet has been sold in over 60 countries internationally and well over 1800 stores in the US. The significant growth and success of the Mighty Wallet accounted for Dynomighty Design's inclusion on the Inc's Fastest Growing Companies list for the years 2010, 11 and 12.
Estimated total wallet sales to date: 3,858,000
Distributed in Andorra, Australia, Austria, Bahrain, Belarus, Belgium, Bosnia, Brazil, Brunei, Canada, Colombia, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Israel, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Korea, K.S.A., Kuwait, Lebanon, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Malaysia, Mexico, Montenegro, Netherlands, New Zealand, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Singapore, Slovenia, Slovakia, South Africa, Sweden, Switzerland, Spain, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, U.A.E., U.K., Ukraine, Uruguay, Vietnam
SUPPORT FOR INDEPENDENT ARTISTS
In 2011 Dynomighty launched one of the first crowdsourced product platforms for the Mighty Wallet called "Artist Collective".
The platform worked like a hybrid of Threadless and Kickstarter with a challenge for each artist to get 30 sales in 30 days. If a design was successful it went into full production and was carried in the Dynomighty product line and distributed internationally as well sharing 15% of all sales with the Artists.
Over 700 of artists are active on Artist Collective as of March 2015.
Over $40,000 was given to independent artists as of March 2015
In the Summer of 2014 the "Artist Collective" platform switched to become a print on demand model with each individual wallet being printed in the Dynomighty facility in Brooklyn, NY. The profit share remained the same.
All artists who submit works are also available for wholesale sales and international distribution if there is a strong interest by the Dynomighty Sales channels.
INDIVIDUAL ARTISTIC EMPOWERMENT THROUGH CUSTOMIZATION
Dynomighty launched "My Mighty Wallet®" in September of 2013 which allowed individuals to design their own custom printed design made in Brooklyn, NY. Using a specialized high quality printing method that retained the familiar look and feel of the Tyvek material while guaranteeing a long lasting image quality, the “My Mighty Wallet®” platform has grown 100% year over year since it’s launch.
Mighty Wallet’s GROWING IMPACT
With millions of customers worldwide who develop a strong and lasting commitment to their wallets through their everyday use and interaction our goal at Dynomighty is to empower individual and creative artistic expression through the Mighty Wallet canvas with our “Artist Collective” and “My Mighty Wallet” platforms as a means to expand an awareness of design and creativity while directly supporting artistic expression.
The Dynomighty Story
I started in 2002 after an art exhibition of my photographic work in Brooklyn where prototypes of my first product (a linkless magnetic bracelet) was left at the reception desk and completely sold out.
I realized there was opportunity to gain the financial freedom to pursue my art full time and launched a series of products over the next several years bootstrapping from an initial $300 investment to getting on the Inc’s Fastest Growing companies list 3 years in a row between 2011-2013.
Today I have opened the “canvas” of our popular Mighty Wallet® to artists around the globe through the “Artist Collective” which allows artists to create their own wallet designs online which are initially sold only online and individually printed in Brooklyn, NY.
Twice a year the Artist Collective has an induction period where designs are selected to be published becoming part of the full line of Dynomighty products sold to over 50 countries globally giving artists distribution and royalties through Dynomighty’s vast sales channels.
Terrence Kelleman, Founder
Dynomighty
OTHER PRODUCT DESIGNS / INVENTIONS
HONORS
Case Studies;
YouTube, Innovative use of online video marketing - 17+ million views of our videos.
Google TV Ads, Innovative incorporation of QR code technology used in Nationwide TV campaign
Inc’s Fastest Growing Companies list 2011 to 2013
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