Art in movies: The Dollar Wallet Kickstarter

The Dollar Wallet is a simple, functional, well-designed wallet that is made in the U.S.A. And it starts at just $1.

Now including international shipping options and new rewards!

THE STORY

Hi, my name’s Kyle and I wanted to make a wallet that is simple, functional, affordable, well-designed, and made in the U.S.A.

The Dollar Wallet is the answer to the desire for a thin-profile, minimalistic wallet that doesn’t charge a premium for simplicity.

The Dollar Wallet costs $1. It is made from high-quality, American-made fiber board and non-roll elastic. It’s a smidgeon bigger than a credit card. It’s durable, reliable, and fits up to 8-10 credit cards and some cash. Yep, still just a buck.

The Dollar Wallet Plus is like its older cousin. It’s a little more mature, more refined. The Dollar Wallet Plus can be upgraded and customized to your heart’s content. It starts at two dollars and is made of high-quality American-sourced plywood and the same non-roll elastic available to upgrade with multiple colors and patterns.

The Dollar Wallet, two available stains on the left. The Dollar Wallet Plus, two available stains on the right.

Elastic color and pattern choices for The Dollar Wallet Plus

The Dollar Wallet compared to my old wallet

The Dollar Wallet compared to an iPhone 5

This is a sample illustration from Artist Scott Brinkley, who will be designing the laser etched designs for all levels that include laser etching. We will release designs along the way during the Kickstarter campaign.

The Dollar Wallet Plus made out of end-of-life authentic vintage vinyl records. These rewards will feature the unique look and feel of vinyl. This is our vinyl prototype (missing the notch in the top, which will be in the final version)

HOW WE GOT HERE

We’ve made our way through about a half a dozen prototypes to the version you see today. It started as a sketch in my notebook at work, first laid out horizontally, then as I shared the idea with a few friends, shifted to vertical.

The sketches that started it all.

Then I made a cardboard sample which lasted all of one morning before I got excited, drove to A.C. Moore, bought some craft plywood and carved a new sample in the workshop at work on my lunch hour. I carried that prototype for a week as I researched options for final materials. I settled on 3/32″ Taskboard for the Dollar Wallet and 1/16″ Aircraft craft plywood for the Dollar Wallet Plus. Both offer rigidity and durability from a high-quality material that will thrive in your pocket all day and a high value to cost ratio to keep production costs low enough to make the Dollar Wallet affordable for everyone. I rented time on a local laser cutter to make production prototypes of both materials, stained them, and began testing in my pocket and with friends.

A few of the steps along the way

The production prototypes you see are laser cut, as the final version will be. The only minor modifications remaining to be made before production are tightening up the notches for the elastic on the sides to fit the band more snugly, and using better stitching to secure the elastic.

WHAT’S NEXT?

Production prototypes are expensive. In order to make this product a reality we need to use the funds from this Kickstarter to purchase our supplies in bulk and purchase a laser cutter to install in our garage studio allow us to make the wallets as efficiently as possible.

Production of the Dollar Wallet starts with the raw boards, which get laser cut into the Dollar Wallet shape. Meanwhile, the elastic bands are cut and sewn into a loop. Then the Dollar Wallets are stained, and if they will be laser etched, put back into the laser cutter to be etched, then clear coated to protect the exposed etching. Then the elastic is placed in the notches and the Dollar Wallet is complete.

After the success of our kickstarter will will immediately order the supplies and laser cutter, with an anticipated delivery date of mid-October for our Early Bird backers and mid-November for most backers. The clear intention of timeline is to make the Dollar Wallet available in time for Christmas so that those of you who are inclined can give the Dollar Wallet as a gift to the minimalist-loving friend or family member of yours!