Wide Body is a Kickstarter project that proposes making a wider watch strap for the Pebble. Really.
At $10,266,845 the Pebble watch is the most successfully funded project in Kickstarter history. Now that the watches are starting to make their way into the hands of Pebble's backers, some of you might be thinking, "Huh, this strap is kind of narrow."
Enter Wide Body. Created by Utensile, a Portland-based product development company, it's a strap that's the same length of Pebble's, except wider … and that's it. "Wide Body is an accessory on Kickstarter for a product from Kickstarter. This might be a crowdfunding first," says Utensile's Jason Hilbourne.
Hilbourne says that the idea for Wide Body came when Pebble was being launched, back in May 2012. Utensile had just finished working with WIMM Labs on the now defunct WIMM One. "Smart watch design was on my brain, so it was easy to click 'Pledge' for Pebble," he says. "I knew that guys were going to want to personalize Pebble with replacement straps."
Is this ridiculous? Yeah it's kind of ridiculous, but it's not really any less reasonable than offering a custom case for a cellphone, or wearing a nice bracelet or a nice tie. If anything, the styling of a watch that you will visibly wear all day should be more important to you than the phone that spends most of its time in your pocket.
If the future of mobile computing is wearables, whether we strap them to our wrists, jam them in our ears or hang them on our faces, then fashion and personal style are going to play a big role in our accessories. People will want to customize. Apple has a huge ecosystem of accessory makers for their iThings. Why not Pebble?
Besides, it's working. With 25 days to go, Wide Body has raised nearly two-fifths of their target. It's a fun side project that looks set to make some money.
Normally Utensile works with clients on consumer electronics products. "Most of our projects at Utensile are extremely complicated, so working on a watch strap was a nice change of pace," says Hilbourne.
The trick was to have the project ready for when Pebble was just starting to roll out to backers. To do this, Utensile took advantage of CAD files that the Pebble team made available to the public, long before the watches started shipping. Based on those, Utensile could prototype versions of the strap against accurate 3-D printed models of the case. They knew they liked the look before a Pebble had even arrived at their door.
When it comes to strap design, Hilbourne says it's all about having the right width. "A narrow strap on a big case makes the strap seem narrow and the case seem even bigger," he warns. By making a strap as wide as the Pebble itself, the whole package gives the impression of being narrower than it really is. It's an illusion, but it's one that works. Side by side, the Wide Body makes the default Pebble strap look like it's out of proportion.
Hilbourne clearly has a passion not only for the products he creates but the process that creates them. Backers of Utensile's previous Kickstarter, the Twig were treated to a series of behind the scenes videos including a China travelogue, featuring clips of dinner, subway rides and lots of behind the scenes looks at the factory they're using.
"We have built products in dozens of factories, and most of them have used some machine or process that has blown my mind," says Hilbourne. "Now that we're making our own gear, I am free to share these crazy behind-the-scenes moments with our backers on Kickstarter. For Wide Body, I'm already guessing that we'll get some good video of silicone molding and leather die-cutting. I can't wait."
How about that? Watch strap and a show.
