Give A Ticket, Get Back A Wallet

It’s a nifty method of distribution, though perhaps not the most profitable. If you don’t want to cough up the Rs2,000 price for this wallet, then just barter it for something you already have. The idea according to its maker, who goes simply by Professor Postman, is to get it if you really need it. “Eventually, you use money to buy something,” he says. “For me, it’s more about the final thing that you need.”

The Professor, part of design collective WETHEPPL (a commune of artists, designers and musicians who count among their exploits a fashion line or two, a supper club, a blog and even music videos), has already bartered 110 wallets to friends and fellow artists, even managing to wangle in return a plane ticket to Paris. Mostly however, the Professor says, he’s exchanged the wallets for services—like getting a graphic designer to help him out with a project—or food.

The wallet made from buttery-soft leather and shaped like an envelope is in itself a utilatarian piece of design. It folds over easily with one side meant for a few cards, and the other, for money. “It’s for people who don’t keep much,” the Professor says. “Not someone with like 500 cards.” The wallet, also made in waxed canvas, can be purchased from Attic or via the collective’s online store. Though if you’d like to exchange it for something, you can request one by emailing the Professor at get@wethepeopleareready.com.