I like this bag. It's got that burly 70s skier thing going on.

I love a good handbag, but I wanted something that could stand up on it's own. Messengers seem to be designed solely for the transport phase of their existence, and not the majority of the time they spend sitting around at their destinations. Shoulder bags also flirt around between being 2-dimentional and 3-dimensional. Maybe there's something interesting in that space.

By having the bag formed as an elliptical cylinder without side edges, it gave the bag a sturdy 3D base to sit on. Pinching the top and sewing it together gave it a cool transition up to 2D at the top. 

Also, having a zipper between the top crests of the bag felt pretty unresolved. A lot of the closure solutions that try to bridge the tops of bags feel clunky to me. By dropping the zipper onto the front face, it became a design feature while making the structure of the bag and closure much more straightforward.

Along that same line, I opted to sew the ends of the strap directly into the top fo the bag. There are two tri-glides instead of one and a loop. I've never been a fan of how straps always seem to bunch and slide in the loops. This also gave it some good symmetry. By binding the top of the body-cylinder first and then sewing it together, it gave a place for the handle and strap to attach. It also stiffened up the top line.

With the tri-glides, one will bump in and one will bump out. The bump in one is on the front where it is less intrusive than on the back shoulder blade. The zipper ends on the front side as well for easier access. (Assuming the bag is being worn on the right side.)

The bag feels great. It's overly sturdy and the handle feels perfect. The number 10 zipper is also probably overkill, but it fits it and is satisfying to tug back and forth. The red bottom is cordura and polypropylene instead of raw canvas, so it should keep well. There's a horizontal pocket underneath the opening on the inside. It's big enough to put pencils and the largest of phones in it.