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What Industrial Design Students Had to Carry, Part 5: Cases to Go Places

ArtBins 'n things

By Rain Noe - July 22, 2015

in Hand Tools | design.edu

Thus far in this series of what ID students had to carry or own in school, we looked at:

- Drawing Implements

- Drawing & Drafting Supplies

- Paper

- Tools

Of course, none of these items carry and organize themselves. So in addition to whatever backpacks and messenger bags each student owned, we had some or all of the following:

ArtBins

Virtually all of us had the ArtBin tacklebox. (I'm surprised to see that the exact same three-tray model I used, which was purchased in the late '80s or early '90s, is still being sold here.)

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I also had a smaller one-tray model that I used for "dirty" supplies—charcoal, pastels, solder, etc.—but I can't find an image of that long-discontinued item anywhere.

ArtBins these days seem to have gotten much fancier. The modern-day ones look swoopier and some of them have little flaps up top that provide access to compartments in the lid.

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Pencil Cases

The ArtBins only kept things separate on their shelves, where space was limited; so if you had an overflow of pencils/markers/brushes or whatever, you'd have additional plastic rectangles like these with dividers.

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Marker Cases/Stands

Not all of us had these, but you'd see them on some of the desks in the studio. I never considered these a staple, but then again my marker renderings sucked.

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ArtBin Telescoping Tubes

To transport rolled-up drawings and draftings, this telescoping ArtBin tube was another must-have. It featured an adjustability ring so that you could alter the overall length; if you didn't lock this down properly, your tube would compress and scrunch your drawing.

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The ArtBin tube became a little more fun to wear after Kevin Costner's Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves came out.

I spent a few moments attempting to Photoshop an ArtBin Tube into here, then thought "What am I doing with my time?"

Portfolio Case

Best case scenario was you had your large pads of paper all in one location, either studio or dorm/apartment, but occasionally this set-up didn't work and you had to transport them back and forth. Best then to keep it safe in a portfolio case.

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Portfolio cases came in several sizes, and accomplished several things: It kept your pads protected; it made you look like a complete tool; and it visually broadcasted from across the street to the local kids within Pratt's high-crime precinct of the early '90s that you were an easy mark. If you think you can outrun a hard-eyed, boxcutter-carrying 14-year-old with one of these strapped on you, think again.

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These things were also nightmares to carry on windy days.

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1stlvl Humanoid

9 years ago

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I like the nylon ditty sacks they make for camping to organize my markers, pens and pencils. For larger things that need to be held flat, I cut ABS sheet to size and sandwiched the delicates in there.

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r gold

9 years ago

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id student in 2015, still carrying more or less the same as everything mentioned in this series.

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Allison Whitehead

9 years ago

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Cigar boxes

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Robyn Fraser

9 years ago

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Being on a really tight budget, I bought an actual, plastic tackle box. It was about 50% cheaper.

It also is still being used. It's under my desk upstairs right now. It makes a great footstool for when I'm designing on the computer. :D

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