I was the classic tinkerer as a child. My favorite toys were diggers. My favourite activity was taking things apart. Naturally I ended up an engineer. My parents brought me up to always question the standard narrative. This combination is the heart of Attenuo. Questioning everyday items and redesigning them for the modern world.
In 2015 I had lost my bifold wallet in Bali. I continued the rest of the trip with my remaining cards and some notes secured together with an elastic band. After living like this for a while it became normal. I didn’t miss my old wallet, I didn’t feel any need to replace it. I got used to not using coins. This felt so much better.
There were of course problems with an elastic band as a wallet. Getting cards in and out was a bit fiddly. It didn’t look great. The rubber made sliding it out your pocket difficult. It occasionally snapped. I had a problem to solve so the engineer in me took over.
Six months later I launched the V1 Attenuo wallet.
Over the next year or so I was always reading customer feedback as soon as I got it. I spoke to many about what they liked about it and didn’t like. I had also been using my product since the very first 3D printed prototype, so knew what I wanted to improve. I bought a 3D printer. Then another. My spare bedroom quickly turned into a workshop.
I designed and printed over a hundred wallet iterations until I settled on a design.
After further prototyping and many headaches with CNCed parts, the V2 was finished. It’s all thanks to those who took a chance and supported me along the way.
Thank you,
Richard
Attenuo founder