THE GREAT MAKEOVER
We are pleased to finally be able to reveal the secret and show you our completely revised tent collection. The relaunch is a big step into the future for us as it heralds a new era. HEIMPLANETas it heralds a new era. In the interview, product designer Moritz Grebe reveals all the details.
Why did you decide to rethink the design of the tents?
Our first inflatable tent was THE CAVE in 2011. Since then, a few models have been added. We have now imagined what all the tents would look like next to each other. Until now, each tent had its own identity in terms of colour scheme. This idea dates back to the early days of HEIMPLANET. But one of our principles is to always question the status quo. Now that the tent range is becoming broader and broader, we felt that the overall look of the collection was becoming too colourful. That would no longer have fitted in with our understanding of HEIMPLANET fit. That's why we have now decided on a uniform colour scheme that better expresses what we stand for as a modern outdoor brand.
With the new colourways, we not only create a uniform image of our entire tent range, but also make it easy for customers to recognise a Classic or a 4-season tent as such. From now on, there will be a clearly recognisable distinction here too.
What are the changes? What new features do the tents have?
The most significant change is the new fabric we use for our outer tents. We have not only standardised the fabric, but also significantly improved the quality. From now on, we use a 40D High Tenacity Polyester with Double Ripstop for all tents. This fabric falls better, is lighter and more tear-resistant than before.
In addition, all tents have a new and uniform colour scheme from now on. For the inner tent, we now use a black mesh that harmonises better with the new colour concept. For the human eye, it is also much more pleasant to look through a black mesh than a white one.
We have also unified the colour of the airframes, so that they are now all in a very dark anthracite, which matches all three colourways perfectly. Each tent also has a new ID print on the struts - this rounds off the new design perfectly from our point of view.
In future, there will be three colourways for the outer tents:
Classic
The new classic colourway is a Light Grey. The aim was to find a colourway that would fit into any environment - not look like a foreign body - without completely merging with it, as with our Cairo Camo colourway.
Cairo Camo
The HEIMPLANET Signature Pattern has basically not been changed, but will be offered as a colourway for all tents in the future.
4 Season
For the 4 Season colourway, we opted for a dark red that stands out in the snow without looking like a signal light. The aim was to find a colourway that would unfold its signal effect more subtly.
With the Classic and the 4 Season, we have developed two distinctly different colourways that stand out from the classic garish outdoor colours and meet both our aesthetic and functional standards.
We have also colour coded the tent joints. This makes it easier and more intuitive for the customer to assemble the tent, even without instructions.
To what extent did the topics of sustainability & product life play a role in the redesign?
Sustainability and product life are fundamentally very important aspects for us and play an overriding role in all product developments. We focus on durability, ease of use, weather resistance and progressive design. We always use very durable materials and choose constructions that can withstand heavy loads. This alone makes for a sustainable product. Because long-lasting products are simply more sustainable.
For the new outer tent fabric, we specifically looked for a material that would be more resilient but also lighter than before. That's why we chose a high tenacity polyester with a 40D yarn count and a double ripstop construction. High tenacity polyester yarn has a higher tensile strength than regular polyester yarn. Accordingly, our new tent fabric also has a higher tear strength. For us, polyester is still - especially with a high tenacity polyester yarn - the best tent fabric for our tent constructions. Polyester is very UV-resistant and hydrophobic, i.e. it does not absorb water per se and does not tend to sag even when wet, so that the tent may need to be re-tensioned.
In addition, the new colour scheme means that we use fewer fabrics in different colours. Of course, this also results in fewer fabric remnants that cannot be further processed in case of doubt.
What makes the result and what do you particularly like about it?
The products are now more of a "one-stop shop" and better reflect our understanding of the HEIMPLANET brand. With the new colour ways, the tents have arrived in the now. For us, the relaunch feels like the beginning of a new era.
We are also very happy with the new fabric quality. Even for the customer, it is literally noticeable that there has been an improvement. In terms of product life and sustainability, we have also taken another step forward here. Our aim has always been to create products that accompany our customers for a lifetime.
What was the biggest challenge along the way?
The biggest challenge was to reconcile the many different goals and demands. In this case, that applies especially to the new fabric. On the one hand, it had to be lighter and more tear-resistant, and on the other hand, it had to meet our aesthetic requirements in terms of colour. To achieve this, we spoke to many manufacturers and tested and compared various fabric samples. This process is very long and labour-intensive. Nevertheless, we do not want to compromise at this point and also want to develop better fabrics in the future - better for the consumer and of course better for our environment.
