Thinking in 3D

I have always had a strong spatial sense.
 
My whole life I have been into puzzles.  My mom tells stories of how she would set me in front of a puzzle at 3 years old, and I would sit there for hours.  I loved it. To this day I can sit in front of a 1000 piece puzzle for 10 hours straight and complete the whole puzzle in one sitting.  When my boyfriend found out about this skill/madness he referred to me as a “Puzzle Freak!”
 
This skill served me in geometry and onto calculus.  It helped in perspective drawing.  And it really found its place in 3D Animation.  It is crucial that a 3D animator understand how the model they are working on looks in all perspectives.   I am really good at this; it makes sense to me.
 
The move from animation to handbags seemed like a pretty crazy transition.  They are so different and there are so few skills I could carry over. But both of these professions require a strong spatial sense.
 
Bag design requires a designer to think about an object they are creating from every angle, and think about every detail before getting started.  For example with The Cube: I had to think through which sides the zipper was going to run through and which pieces the handle was going to intersect with before I even began cutting the leather.

What is interesting is that since I have such a strong 3-dimensional sense, I never write my designs down.  I never draw anything out.  It all comes directly from my mind.  I know the dimensions of each of the pieces and how they fit together based on the picture in my head.
 
I hope this isn’t sounding braggy.  There are plenty of things that I am horrible at, but this strong spatial sense has really helped in my bag design.