Kevin Dee is a co-founder of EVERGOODS, a backpack and carry brand based in Bozeman, Montana. Kevin studied Studio Art in Chicago where he lived with collaborators in several art and event spaces. Paying rent through loose strings of gigs around interior painting, carpentry, art installation, photo assisting, and bicycle courier work allowed him time to explore more passionate interests, including bicycle repair, photography, DJ-ing house parties, and making sewn objects. The inevitable need for a more stable income led to his first sewing-industry-related job as a Sample Maker at Patagonia in Ventura, California. After spending several years sewing other people's designs and several more on Patagonia’s Advanced Research and Development Team, Kevin eventually relocated to Bozeman to pursue contract design work with a variety of brands. One of these engagements introduced him to his eventual friend and business partner, Jack, with whom he stated EVERGOODS in 2017. Forged from a commitment to hands-on product design, their careful consideration of raw material inputs, pattern engineering, and manufacturing practicality creates a truly exceptional carry experience. This focus on process and craft raises the bar for general purpose carry. EVERGOODS products help ease the daily grind, allowing users to think about their day rather than their bag.

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I’m a maker and product person. At this point in my career, I understand the critical importance of operating a profitable business, but early on, I was often frustrated sitting in meetings where the product felt like an afterthought. It was just there to support business objectives. I really wanted to see the product as the primary focus, supported by the necessary business efforts that ensure profitability and continuation of the work in product.

After I left the research and development team at Patagonia, I did contract design work for a while, which put me in contact with many different projects and people. One of those contracts was with GORUCK. Although their headquarters was in Florida, they had a satellite product development office in Bozeman where I lived. One of the challenges of working in a satellite office is communication and alignment with the Head Office, but one of the advantages is a high degree of autonomy. I reported to Jack on that contract, and while he didn’t get a lot of clear direction from HQ, he was expected to deliver on the product side and brought me in as a contractor.

Because the projects lacked clarity, we started working on things that aligned with HQ’s request but involved a lot of latitude in approach and design. That was the magic for me — the backing and resources to do engaging design work with a high degree of creative control. I loved the work and was consumed with excitement over some of the things we made.

After a while, the contract went sideways (which is what they all do eventually), but it was intoxicating doing self-directed, product-first work that was supported by a profitable company. It was all I wanted to do moving forward. So, Jack and I started EVERGOODS together.

Starting this company from a very small size was — without a doubt — the most challenging constraint. While Jack and I briefly courted outside investment, we opted instead to fund the company with our own money in order to retain control. 

As we entered into an industry centered around mass-production and volume, we operated a small, organic startup on a shoestring budget. In addition to all of the operational constraints arising from the limited budget, our initial ordering volumes struggled to meet minimums. It was challenging to source custom textiles at such a small scale. Reducing and consolidating our material ordering to meet supplier minimums became a driving force in early design decisions. For example, the harness geometry had to be identical across all products so that they could share a single foam cut part. Additionally, our handles are made using tubular webbing, but we made the decision to sheathe them in textile, allowing us to use a stock-color webbing without custom dying it.

I worked within these design constraints to the best of my ability with as few raw materials as possible. For a long time, the entire product line used only 4 different fabrics because we weren’t selling enough product to support buying more than that. This constraint helped to inform some of our early design ID and has been an approach that has served us well ever since. It’s the reason that the aluminum stay inside the CPL (Civic Panel Loader) series is the same part that we use in the Transit Duffel, Transit Briefcase, and early CTB40.  At large enough volumes, you can source unique parts for everything you make. But starting out, we had to do a lot with a little, and this has remained at the heart of our brand and design.

The magnets in CAP1 are incredibly special (and incredibly expensive). They elevate the product from good to great. We discovered the magnets early on and used them in most of the product development. However, near the end, we found out that those magnets make up 50% of the raw material cost of that product, pushing it into a challenging place in regard to margin.

There was quite a bit of internal argument and hand-wringing about this, but the magnets really served the product. They made it effortless to use and provided a satisfying “SNAP” when the product closed. This user-interaction made the product appealing and engaging on multiple levels. At the end of the day, the product needed to be excellent, and sometimes other things have to bend in order to uphold that.

We often get feedback from people that love our CPL but really wish that it had water bottle pockets on the side. To all those people, I hear you. I understand and appreciate you. But this isn’t what the CPL is all about.

The CPL has such an elemental silhouette. It’s just the right speed for me — adequately featured but restrained. Adding side pockets would complicate its form and compromise its function when resting on its side like a briefcase or laptop bag.

Our Civic Travel Bag is very similar to the CPL but has some added travel-focused features, including side bottle pockets. I hope this can fill the need for many of our customers. The CPL, however, is our flagship product expression and must remain true to its original conception.

At this point, I want to continue to round out our product offerings, filling in holes without adding redundancies. I also want to continue to periodically revisit our past work, making small adjustments and improvements as we continue to refine our craft and evolve as makers. There is no endpoint to this work. The journey is all that there is.

In that spirit, I never want to outsource product design and development.  Making our own patterns and prototypes in our own shop with our own tools is so core to the company that we’ve built. It really is our identity as a brand and the primary reason that I believe our products appeal to people and have market relevance. It’s challenging work but also rewarding beyond words.  We can never lose this.

I’ve been inspired for years by CW&T, a small design firm in Brooklyn, NY.  Not only are their designs practical and beautiful, but they also really have soul. CW&T is consistently able to engage me on an emotional level when I interact with their objects, whether it’s a nice auditory “click” or a deep haptic “thunk” or a visual representation that speaks to my abstract experience of time. They’re really engaging another level of product interaction and ultimately joy.

I’m also really taken by Takeshi Endo’s work at his Claustrum studio in Ginza, Tokyo. His works in steel are functional, industrial pieces with just enough character to appeal to the human experience. I also admire his model of working with small fabricating shops around Japan to produce the needed parts and pieces in small batch, which are then finished and assembled in his Ginza workshop. Ultimately, the production of an object is an integral part of its identity.

My Technics 1200 turntables.

Cradle to Cradle by William McDonough & Michael Braungart; also Emotional Design by Don Norman

Telling my children that I love them.

A clock by Lemnos.

Give it your all every time but know that success is just a brief, momentary state. Find fulfillment in the journey, not an elusive endpoint.

8oz Americano, black.

Form & Function is a print magazine about the objects worth keeping. We write about the tools, gear, and everyday things that earn their place through good design and honest craft — the stuff that works as well as it looks. Each issue is made slowly and on purpose: matte pages, considered writing, no filler. This newsletter is where that same thinking shows up between issues — founder interviews, early looks, and the occasional thing we can't stop thinking about.

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The quarterly print magazine about things worth keeping. Matte, printed, made to be held. Ships July ‘26.