Case Study         

Transit Strap 

From Cub & Co.’s inception, I wanted to create products that resonated with likeminded free-spirited creators. Products that adapt to fast paced, ever shifting environments. That are as practical as they are stylish. In January 2016, one of my main goals was to initiate a collaboration that would expand my product offerings to a new demographic. Specifically, I was looking for a knowledge resource with an ear to an engaged social community, to collaborate and help navigate the needs of a new market.

That’s when I teamed up with Nemo (@nemonyc), founder, designer and community lead for cycling brand, Never Not Riding (@nevernotriding). Cycling and photography have often shared a certain degree of crossover, especially in an urban community like New York City. Nemo confirmed the demand for a function-forward camera strap designed for cyclists, a constant request from his combined 55.7K followers on Instagram which he regularly interacts with by hosting bike tours, pop ups and community events around Brooklyn and Manhattan.

Community interaction was an integral component to what I believed would help us meet our goals and exceed our benchmarks for this collaboration. After a few months of design refinements and testing, the ‘Transit Strap’ was born. A leather camera strap that could be customized to fit a cyclists riding style. The strap is adjustable and features a riding harness that keeps the camera in place as you ride. Also converting into a wrist strap when traveling light, essentially making it two straps in one. The only camera strap of its kind.

The collaboration served as an important learning opportunity for me and a crash course on how to project manage every facet of a collaborative initiative. Our limited edition Transit strap sold out and we met all revenue benchmarks we set from the start. 

Besides product design, I took on the creative direction of the Transit Strap lookbook and promotional video. There would be no better way to show the ‘Transit Straps’ unique feature set, than in action on the streets of Brooklyn. So I followed Nemo on my bike while he took me to his favorite riding routes in the D.U.M.B.O. section of Brooklyn. This shoot was particularly challenging because I shot both video and stills often while riding and dodging cars.

That being said, we succeeded in capturing the raw dynamism of cycling in NYC as well as the functionality of a simple tool that does it’s job and stays out of the way. The teasers and full length video got a combined 4.4k views on Instagram and another 3k views on Vimeo. With a 153% increase in engagement than my most popular instagram post to date.

Ultimately the content we created went a long way in creating buzz for our product launch event which we hosted with frequent collaborator, Lomography NYC (@lomographynyc) in their west village gallery store. We also tapped local cyclist and photographer Cordell Murray (@stayalivestudio) to talk about a recent

photography project he was working on with other cyclists in the community. All and all, we had an amazing turn out, with a diverse group of creatives from different backgrounds all being linked by the love of photography and cycling.