What is Friend and Fiend?

Friend & Fiend is a creative outlet for industrial designer Bailey Van Etten.

In its initial manifestation, Friend & Fiend is a small line of soft goods. It is fun stuff for me to make, and I can iterate quickly. I can do most of the work at home, and not be worried about lopping off a finger with a table saw. There will be a few products I keep around consistently, but there is a decent chance of seeing one-off outliers that show up every once in awhile.

On its surface, this is a way for me to experiment with design concepts that would otherwise only exist in my head. In a more idealistic sense, I am hoping that this becomes less of a “me” and more of a “we”. I want to do creative work with my friends, and hopefully create a venue for myself and others to bring really cool work into the world.

I haven’t even made it this far on my own. I have friends helping me with photos, video, and testing. The impetus for the On-Tube Storage came from a need that was not my own. As Friend & Fiend evolves, it won’t always be “handmade”, and it won’t be constrained entirely to bags and/or fabric. Whatever form it takes, embodying some version of a DIY ethos is important to me, and going through that process with others is impactful not just for the result, but more importantly, for the people involved.

Making stuff makes people feel good, and I want to be able to help fuel those fires.