The Swiss brand FREITAG, known for their products made from discarded truck tarps, has always stood for individualism. With the digital service tool, F-Cut, FREITAG now offers its customers the opportunity to design their very own super-unique model cut from the different digitized used truck tarps of their choice. For them, FREITAG in collaboration with DEPT developed a digital cutting table where they can forget design guidelines and customize a one-off FREITAG bag to suit their very own taste, that once finished, will be shipped home to the proud owner.
FREITAG has always been producing one-of-a-kind items from used material that their fans could choose from. So it was only natural that they asked themselves: Can we make our bags even more individual? Can we go one step further and offer our customers not only the selection, but also the creation of one-offs and let them choose their specific preferences regarding colors, numbers and typography?
With F-Cut, the new, exclusively online customization tool, all customers can design their bag beyond all FREITAG design guidelines, based on their own taste and then have it sent to their home. The four templates of the Messenger Bag, F712 DRAGNET, are available on the digital cutting table to be placed on the 20-50 different digitized used truck tarpaulins. Users can also choose to include the FREITAG standard logo or the F-Cut special logo which spells out, "MY FAULT." Through this innovative initiative, FREITAG hopes this will not only encourage consumers to explore their creative sides, but also gain a new perspective and appreciation for how versatile recycled materials can be. When you can choose from many beautiful old tarpaulins right in front of you and create your own unique bag out of them, you will get a very direct understanding of how to give things a next life and how to keep materials in the loops.
F-Cut offers a unique combination of used and real materials with digital perfection and a smooth product configuration – no matter on which device, including 3D preview in real time. In this way, the offline world of FREITAG is linked to the online world thanks to a unique experience. Incidentally, the F-Cut idea tracks back to almost 20 years ago, when a multimedia student invented, designed, programmed and turned the first F-Cut into reality with the help of FREITAG for his final-year project. Today, FREITAG is excited to share that the same coder, worked together with a team from the digital agency DEPT, to create today's new development. The 2022 version of F-Cut is more contemporary, user-friendly and continues to work as well as the mother of all digital customization applications of yesteryear. Several further development projects are already planned: more products and features are to follow.
The reception of F-Cut has been quite overwhelming, specifically from Japan, Germany, and our home-market Switzerland. The virtual cutting table is very well visited - at any given time, between 40-60 users are designing their own F712 DRAGNET messenger bag online. Since the launch in May more than 800 digitized truck tarps have been used. We love the fact that having the choice between a regular FREITAG and the special MY F-AULT logo, the majority of the online designers go for the latter one.