Ind, softgoods project and possible brand(need help)

Now this might sound like a long shot especially in this tough economy and with limited resources on my part but with the ideas in mind and the motivation I have, I really want to make this thing come to life. This is also a long posting and I apologize but please bare with me. :smiley:

Basically, someone I know who I went to school with and who was in film, has a small, independent and underdeveloped brand name called Utility Media based out of Pittsburgh, PA and he independently shoots music videos for artists who are either doing music for fun or trying to come up and possibly make a name for themselves. He is also an avid skateboarder and films local talent using the best equipment available for skateboarding purposes. He is also working on a full length film set to drop next year if all goes well.

A little background on myself, I am a young and recently graduated designer who has a bachelors and do have and understanding and overall love for product design/development. Design is my passion and Its something I live for, with or without success within the industry. He knows me as a designer and came to me with the proposition that I should try to design him a multi-functional camera bag for skateboarders that can be capable of carrying a full spectrum of cameras/accessories that are most currently used by skateboarders (there are only a small handful of cameras that skateboarders take interest in due to quality, affordability, and the ease of carrying while following the skater). Initially I thought, ‘heck yeah! I’m down’ and if anything it could contribute to my continuously evolving portfolio, and so that would ultimately be the project brief. Not only am I interested in doing an independent project like this but I think the brand name he has ‘Utility Media’ is too good of a fit for something like this to not try to bring in some good old fashioned entrepreneurial spirit into. We both have talked about it and would love to partner up say the project becomes a success and gets great reception.

So the big question I have for you experienced designers out there, is of course business related. Say we were capable of getting this project and the brand refined to a 100% consumer-able level, how would I go about the funding, manufacturing, all the legal stuff, and vendors? I know this is a huge undertaking but It’s something I really want to give a shot at and something completely new that I think would make a great stake in the industry of choice. I don’t plan to make this ‘just another’ and plan to make this initial project cutting edge product design. I will take things one step at a time as needed but any advice on the business/entrepreneur end of things would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks and salutations!,

Well I might be stating the obvious here but… Kickstarter??

Seems perfect for this kinda thing.

I can definitely look into that. I do know, for lack of knowledge and funds purposes, that the best place to start for now is just focus on the project itself and to initially do as much research as possible. The project overall will comprise of at least 80% research and presumably even more than that to make certain the development side is completely on point and can be taken seriously by potential stakeholders in the future assuming it gets good feedback. The target market would be very niche and obviously we don’t expect this brand to become the next Jansport lol, but would like to see how far it could actually go. Things could also be compromised in the future. Like previously stated, looking to take this thing one step at a time. Thanks!