Innovative GEIST™ Modular Display Systems for Creative Solutions

Client:

Geist Gear

Business Stage:

Startup

Category:

Tactical hunting

WERX Role:

Design, Develop, Produce

Introduction

Founder Billy Busch tapped into his roots from his long family legacy of land and wildlife conservation, to bring to life Geist to be like a ghost in the outdoors to pursue top level hunting pursuits.

Collaboration

Through references given, Billy reached out to WERX to help take his well thought out plan of creating Geist to life. Over the prior year, Billy had been sketching and collecting samples of pieces he liked, as well as pieces he could see had room for improvement, to bring an assortment of ideas to the table. He had also been working with a graphic artist to create a compelling and unique camouflage pattern assortment. We were fired up ready to bring Geist to the world.

To create a technical hunting brand taking what has been proven in the market by brand leaders, and expanding upon it with out of the box thinking and features unseen in the hunting market to create a collection that has it’s own vision, language and feature set for the hunters looking for more and different.

The Goal

The Challenge

We were about to embark on a journey with some major players already in place in this category. There were brand loyalists in every gear chat room and reviews explaining why these top three hunting brands were the best choices, as well as thousands of five star reviews for existing product in the marketplace by these brands.

We knew that for Geist to have any success, they would have to come with a completely new and unique point of view and win over these customers.

Approach

Part of our ideation process was taking note of where category leaders were having success, while listening to consumers and Geist’s founders desire for better functionality and fabrication - and went to work to use our knowledge across multiple categories in tech apparel and gear to bring innovative and problem solving ideas to the table to explore.

lucky for us, Geist founder. Billy had been working through these market leaders products for the two years prior to engaging with us, and had compiled a notebook full of comments and sketch. Ideas of how these products were missing the mark and could be improved. In most cases, he had an idea of why they were failing and the desired outcome, just not a clear picture of how we were going to be able to get it done. This is where our work really started becoming fun.

Our Process

Over the next 2 years, we worked very closely with Geist to work through the collection, piece by piece, on the apparel from the base layer through to heavy guide jacket & waders, hunting packs and gear bags, headwear and hand wear to take the time and recreate the functional performance of each piece from the ground up.

NUMBER OF PRODUCTS

27 YEARS IN PARTNERSHIP

3 FACTORIES
UTILIZED

5 The Results

In the end we were able to look at a complete collection, boasting unique innovative features and solutions to keep hunters more comfortable and prepared to head out into the backcountry and do what they do best. This time, being like a ghost in their surroundings.

We invented and innovated certain pieces in ways that have not been done before. Some of these wins included:

Creating waterfowl waders using the technical 37.5 branded fabric technology that had not been done before, creating the lightest and most breathable waders in the market, while maintaining the durability and waterproofness that would be needed in the elements. These waders also boasted a unique under-boot strap system to keep your boots protected by mud and a pocketing solution to keep your gear dry.
The Boot gaiter that we designed to work with the full softshell bibs, would be removable and shaped around the boot itself in a way to keep your boots covered and utilizing a unique hook and loop with dramatically strong resistance to tear strength in one direction, while also being incredibly easy to release when pulled in a second direction. This kept them locked in place but also very easy to release when taking them off.
The Tree-stand backpack we designed has unique features such as a fully insulated top compartment to keep your lunch warm or cold for several hours, removable camera cube from side entry, swing away organization panel from the front door compartment, backstrap and waist straps doubling as attachment to the tree so you can stay organized while up on the perch and a deployable bow harness which allows you to attach a full length hunting bow for the hike in/out of the wilderness.

Where are they now?

Geist has set up an amazing warehouse and studio in Ventura California, boasting a showroom, archery range, and retail shop where people can come and experience the brand and learn about the product. They are off selling their products to hunting enthusiasts and people that just appreciate the styles and camo patterns that were developed in line with the gear.

Gallery

Here are pictures of some of the great products that came out of the project