About Us

The Pinbuds team measuring and testing ITA bags around a table

How we make our bags

Every bag starts with a brief and a hand-drawn sketch, so each silhouette is our own. From there we work with our suppliers in person overseas, through several rounds of samples, to find the best new materials and designs. In the months before each crowdfunding campaign we stress test every design, so the bags you carry are made to last. Ten years in, we're proud that our backers can count on us to deliver on time.

Making art that you're attached to

Pinbuds makes ITA bags, enamel pins, charms and accessories built around one idea: giving your favourite things a place to live. Pins on a window, charms on a clasp, a photocard in a sleeve. Everything we make is there to help you carry and show off what you love, instead of leaving it in a drawer at home.

How it started

Hi, I'm Brandon, the artist behind Donburee. I started Pinbuds in 2014 after my first trip to Japan, where I fell in love with pins and started collecting them. I didn't want them all sitting at home in a drawer. Being a bit of a tech nerd, I also wanted a way to carry my everyday life with more personality, so we set out to make the ultimate everyday bag.

I love drawing on my iPad, and I also work part-time as a UX designer, so Pinbuds grew out of a passion for making websites, physical products and digital design. I draw in Procreate on iPad, then move to Figma and Affinity when a design needs the precision of vector work.

Over the last ten years we've made hundreds of new items through crowdfunding with our pin community, always looking for new ways to make wearable, interactive art. Along the way Tim and I co-founded Studio Donburee here in Sydney, and Pinbuds has grown into a full product line under the studio.

A display bag with a devoted, growing following

Since 2020 we've shipped more than 10,000 bags to collectors all around the world. You'll find us through Kickstarter, BackerKit, Etsy, In.cube8r and right here on our own shop, and in person at more than 100 conventions, from SMASH!, Oz Comic Con, Supanova and Animaga to Osaka Comic Con and Tokyo Comic Con. Meeting you at the table, seeing your bags filled with pins, is still the best part of the job.

From sample to bag

We spend months with our fabric and hardware suppliers, choosing materials and testing durability and fit.

How we test

Then we test the first sample for fit, comfort and structure, before choosing the final colours, materials and branding. For our navy backpack, we carried the first sample to conventions and on flights for months, loaded with close to 10 kg.

Checking samples at every stage
Picking fabrics that last
Choosing hardware
The highest quality polyester lining, as used in puffer jackets
High-quality outdoor webbing
Testing strap durability
Durability on flights

Where we started

Ten years of pins, bags and conventions with our community.

100+conventions
100,000+customers
50+projects fulfilled

It started at the pin table
Pins, prints and a pegboard at a table of our own.
Made in Sydney
Brandon and Tim run Pinbuds from Studio Donburee in Sydney, Australia.
50+ projects fulfilled
Crowdfunded with our pin community, then delivered.
More
Pins, charms and ITA bags, launched on Kickstarter and BackerKit.
Ten years of evolving bags
From crossbody bags to totes and backpacks.
100+ conventions
From SMASH!, Oz Comic Con, Supanova and Animaga to Osaka and Tokyo Comic Con.
Our SMASH! partnership
In 2026 we helped supply the merch for SMASH!'s official pins.
100,000+ customers
Through our in-store and online channels, all around the world.