What’s in a web designers bag?

Posted by: Alex on July 23, 2013
Items in a Web Designers Bag

Here’s a look at what I carry on mostly a daily basis in my bag to work.

From top left, going in a clockwise manner:

Firstly, the bag is a “Brenthaven 15″ Collins Slim Brief Case for MacBook Pro” I found this Laptop Bag to have the optimum mix of comfort, pockets/storage, price & quality.

Moleskine notepad
– The quality of these notepads is awesome; personally, I opt for the medium plain paper version—as I can mix doodling and notes, great for both web developers & designers alike.

Wallet
– The everyday leather wallet, scarcely containing money, just debit cards, receipts & driving license.

iPad
– The iPad is a must-have in my opinion for most web designers working on front end projects. Just look at the analytics of your website to see the stats of visitors from iPads—it’s definitely worth having one to help optimise and test.

15-inch MacBook Pro with Retina Display
– Overkill for many web designers/developers. For me they’re just such reliable machines—I was a pure windows fanboy and hated Apple until I got an iMac in work and realised just the difference they make. Go to any web conference and you’ll see a huge majority of attendees on MacBook’s, and for good reason, the array of apps specifically for MacOS is awesome. Here are my suggested top apps for Mac.

iPad/iPhone charger

Card Wallet
– I’m using this increasingly more often than my standard wallet, as cash quickly becomes a thing of the past and the “plastic” (debit cards etc) is all that is needed.

Apple iPhone 5
– Unfortunately, like many people, I can’t go anywhere without my phone nowadays.

A Book
– Always good to keep a book on hand—at the time of posting for me it’s “Insites – The Book” by @viewportind.

USB Pen
– The elusive USB pen, never there when you need it. I’ve found a little pouch in my bag and ensure it’s always kept there. It’s a 16gb Integral.

Screen Cloth
– Those pesky fingerprints will just keep coming back!

Sunglasses
– Only in summer of course – (Knock-off Raybands)

Pens & Pencils
– These 3 are the main ones I carry. They are from left to right: Ardier Pen, Uni Pin Fine Line Pigment Ink 0.5, Progesso 2B Solid Pencil.