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The Venture Libre Story |
We all take our own path in our life-journeys. The creation of Venture Libre is no different. Two people traveling in vans, thinking of ways to make them better. Shane had his path and Damon had his. At some point they intersected, the accumulation of their experiences and knowledge enabled a fruitful collaboration. Here are their stories on how this all came to be.
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Shane's Path: In late 2015 a friend named Robert Peters submitted a mod to LiveTheVanLife.com for a Westfalia Rear Cabinet Storage Tool Mod. I loved the idea of utilizing this underappreciated slab of real estate in my Van and immediately began to mull ways to make something both beautiful and functional for that space. This was the beginning of the Westy Bravo Concept. A year and a half went by, during which I began to make contacts in Tijuana Mexico through a series of paint blogs I had written after getting my Westfalia restored there. These contacts eventually led me to a small leather shop. |
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Damon Butler, aka Nrwstr and I became friends while I was assisting him with his Westfalia’s restoration in Tijuana. Lacking the skills to design what I wanted, I called Damon while I was backpacking through Cambodia, and asked him if he would partner with me in creating what would go on to become the Westy Bravo. The first Westy Bravo designs by Damon were prototyped in Chaing Mai, Thailand in November of 2017
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The first prototypes to come out of Thailand were a bit...underwhelming. Though the craftsman was wonderful, the leather quality was poor, the thread available wasn't great, and clearly we had a lot of refinement left to do on the design.
Returning to the U.S. in early 2018, I started to ask the friends I had made in Mexico, if any of them knew of a upholstery shop that could help us with our project. I traveled from shop to shop in the back streets of Tijuana Mexico, searching for someone with the skills to produce what we wanted, and to our exacting standards. Eventually a friend in an upholstery shop referred me to his friend up the street who was a leather craftsman. After he showed me some examples of his work I knew that we finally had someone with the skills to make what we wanted.
The Leather: There was one piece still missing. I had heard that in Central Mexico there was a region known for its leather production. Guanajuato, is one of the leather and shoe making meccas in North America. After reaching out to some contacts there, I decided to jump on a plane and fly to central Mexico to find the leather we desperately needed. After a few days of wandering in and out of many Tanneries, I stumbled upon one in the outskirts of town that had the most glorious leather I had seen. They called it "Crazy Horse" leather for its rugged feel and its excellent pull up (the discoloration in leather when you stretch or pull it). The owner of the tannery gave me a crash course in leather production where I learned that it takes 14 days to turn a raw hide into finished leather. At our insistence only the highest grade hides from American cows are used in our leather. Finally we had found the leather that I had quite literally searched the globe for.
Damon getting inspired in the "inspiration room" of our workshop.
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Damon inspecting Venture Libre hides in Guanajuato, MX
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Damon's Path:
My Van
When I bought my van in 2010, I spent a lot of time upgrading and modifying in the usual ways. I also, took a few directions that were unique, mainly designing decals and technical labels that I wanted to have on my van that no one else was doing. (You can see these at my own site www.nrwstr.com).
It’s my ‘day-job’ to design things. To be constantly observing what works, what doesn’t, how to make it better and identifying what’s missing. It’s a blessing and a curse to have a restless mind and never really being ‘satisfied’.
Storage problems is one thing all van-owners are familiar with. I was no exception. I didn't like the idea of one brand offering a leather pouch for here, or another offering a textile one for there, or a metal/plastic thing for somewhere else. It was all so inconsistent, in material, color, design language and attachment method. No unifying ‘System’ or ‘Look’, just a cluttered aesthetic. Things may be put away, physically. But it was visually untidy, which can be equally taxing on the brain and spirit.
The Westy Bravo
The back of the Westfalia cabinet probably glares at almost everyone, saying “use me!” But very few have: a place for decals, a drawer mod’, a speaker, a set of tools attached there, certainly no commanding product concept to define the space. I pondered this along with various other places in the van, but did nothing about it. Making decals and t-shirts is quite straight-forward, but a complex storage product is a whole different level. Having designed footwear and various other ‘Hardgoods’ for 25 years, I am very familiar with how to make such a thing, but that is only part of the task. A while later Shane mentioned his desire to make something there, and as he was in Thailand, suggested I make a design to get prototyped at a leather workshop he had found.
We talked about various features to include and the problems that specific location presented. I knew the optimal materials to use, the best construction styles to employ. I also knew the path to the end would not be a straight line. Indeed, the arc of the creation process wound its way to Mexico, thanks to Shane’s contacts. My insistence on building not the cheapest version but the best, led us to find great materials and makers.
The Design
‘Design language’ is a set of visual characteristics that are manifested in the shapes used, materials chosen and technical features included that tie different products together from the same Brand.
That language is informed by two main factors:
These factors determine not only what the product looks like, but also how it works. It becomes the ‘DNA’ that is consistent from one product to the next.
Our ‘Internal Factors’ were:
Our ‘External Factors’ were:
Thus, the Westy Bravo has all these characteristics of quality, durability and synergy to the van interior. From beautiful materials, a clean two-tone color scheme, radiused pockets and a clean, functional style.
My Van
When I bought my van in 2010, I spent a lot of time upgrading and modifying in the usual ways. I also, took a few directions that were unique, mainly designing decals and technical labels that I wanted to have on my van that no one else was doing. (You can see these at my own site www.nrwstr.com).
It’s my ‘day-job’ to design things. To be constantly observing what works, what doesn’t, how to make it better and identifying what’s missing. It’s a blessing and a curse to have a restless mind and never really being ‘satisfied’.
Storage problems is one thing all van-owners are familiar with. I was no exception. I didn't like the idea of one brand offering a leather pouch for here, or another offering a textile one for there, or a metal/plastic thing for somewhere else. It was all so inconsistent, in material, color, design language and attachment method. No unifying ‘System’ or ‘Look’, just a cluttered aesthetic. Things may be put away, physically. But it was visually untidy, which can be equally taxing on the brain and spirit.
The Westy Bravo
The back of the Westfalia cabinet probably glares at almost everyone, saying “use me!” But very few have: a place for decals, a drawer mod’, a speaker, a set of tools attached there, certainly no commanding product concept to define the space. I pondered this along with various other places in the van, but did nothing about it. Making decals and t-shirts is quite straight-forward, but a complex storage product is a whole different level. Having designed footwear and various other ‘Hardgoods’ for 25 years, I am very familiar with how to make such a thing, but that is only part of the task. A while later Shane mentioned his desire to make something there, and as he was in Thailand, suggested I make a design to get prototyped at a leather workshop he had found.
We talked about various features to include and the problems that specific location presented. I knew the optimal materials to use, the best construction styles to employ. I also knew the path to the end would not be a straight line. Indeed, the arc of the creation process wound its way to Mexico, thanks to Shane’s contacts. My insistence on building not the cheapest version but the best, led us to find great materials and makers.
The Design
‘Design language’ is a set of visual characteristics that are manifested in the shapes used, materials chosen and technical features included that tie different products together from the same Brand.
That language is informed by two main factors:
- Internal: the designer asking, “what do I/the Brand want it to be?” Aka: style, and point-of-difference.
- External: the designer observing, “what is the context of this product? Aka: End-use, target consumer and the immediate environment in which it will be placed.
These factors determine not only what the product looks like, but also how it works. It becomes the ‘DNA’ that is consistent from one product to the next.
Our ‘Internal Factors’ were:
- Making the best version: High Quality
- Ensuring we were making a System of products rather than a ‘one-off’
Our ‘External Factors’ were:
- The end-consumer is a traveler/camper/van-lifer.
- It must be rugged and durable
- The interior of the van is very specific. The pre-existing design language of the Westfalia cabinetry must be taken into account:
- Rectangular doors with over-sized radiused corners
- Two-tone grey and two-tone tan color scheme
Thus, the Westy Bravo has all these characteristics of quality, durability and synergy to the van interior. From beautiful materials, a clean two-tone color scheme, radiused pockets and a clean, functional style.
Venture Libre was founded by Vanagon enthusiasts Damon Butler and Shane Jordan. Each valuing aesthetics as highly as functionality, they crafted the Westy Bravo for their own use. As they worked on the project together, they soon realized that Damon’s expertise in design, combined with Shane’s background in business management and supply chain logistics proved a dynamic and lucrative pairing. They soon got to work on delivering Westy Bravo to the masses and set forth to expand product lines well beyond their Westfalia roots.
You can follow both on Instagram:
Damon - @nrwstr
Shane - @livethevanlife
You can follow both on Instagram:
Damon - @nrwstr
Shane - @livethevanlife