To create the first carry-on in their new luggage line, Away Travel, Jen Rubio and Steph Korey remember going through 20 different wheel designs before choosing the almost-silent Japanese Hinomoto 360-degree spinners. And the suitcase’s other features (among them: a built-in battery for iPhone charging, waterproof zippers, a removable laundry bag and an embedded TSA-approved lock) are as carefully considered. For the next month, three NYC-based illustrators — Scott Biersack, Alaina Sullivan and Jen Mussari — are on hand to customize the design with hand-painted initials. “Monogramming to me, as a kid, was L.L. Bean,” says Mussari, whose lettering typically takes cues from sign-painting and ’50s automotive racing. She and the other artists made fonts specifically for the project. “The style represents both my interests and the brand’s connection to speed.”
[SOURCE :-nytimes]
