Design v/s Fashion: The search for a quality phone cover

There was once a time, when we carried pocket watches, heavy wallets, fancy pouches for coins, and a pocket diary for taking notes. As we advanced, first went the heavy watches, replaced by their smaller versions, wristwatches. Then was the time for coin pouches, followed by heavy wallets, and then went the pocket diaries since there was no need for all that stuff. All you needed was your smartphone and you were good to go. But things did not stop there. You still need your wallet to get you around. However, with these nifty covers from Noreve, I think you would be able to do away with that as well.

But it's not just a fancy cover that packs your wallet in it. A friend of mine bought a nice new phone with one of those half-eaten fruits on the back (I think she is down a kidney). Sadly, the klutz she was, it did not see a long life. Leading to further expense on either repairing it or a new one. If only there was something she could've done the first time around.

Her journey to the perfect phone cover

After her phone was repaired, she decided to put a cover on it. Inspired by the DIY culture, she got to work and decided to create some for herself. And life was good for a while, she could easily design fashionable ones with a liquid plastic welder. But that is all good till the plastic ages and starts giving a very old look to the case. Then it was time for something permanent, that could last and showcase her phone and not hide it in plastic.

Something that could be great for business and casual without being too problematic in usage. Something that would work with a pantsuit while providing the comfort of pyjamas. And boy was the search difficult. There's a lot of fake leather sellers trying to pass themselves as genuine. Got to watch out for that. Can't just throw money at it, just because it's an established brand, that's just wasteful. Can't go for something that looks great but is impractical to use. Decisions, decisions, decisions...

This phone addiction might actually hurt my brain.

The story of broken phones... & hearts

Then there's the colleague, who gets constantly reminded by us about his always broken phone. On his behalf, he takes proper care for the phone, but, it just keeps slipping away. It's not just these couple of cases, all of us have at some point of our life had our phone broken (May not apply to some Nokia users). I personally had 2 phones destroyed because they had the bad luck of slipping out of my hand and falling to their untimely deaths. If only I had known better to put a cover on my old phone. But nevertheless, a newer phone come along, with more features this time. I remember having this conversation with him.

A: But what can you do if you keep dropping your phone on the floor.

B: Last time also, it broke on the floor. So, let's carpet the whole floor.

A: What if it falls outside, I can't carpet everyplace.

B: I have some advice... you won't like it.

A: But what's the point of covering it up if you can't show off the sleek design & the smooth finishing of the phone?

(BTW, I'm B)

And therein lies the problem. Mobiles are so sleek & stylish that they have moved beyond their original purpose of connecting and communicating with people. They are now often a means of capturing your life's precious moments, sharing your desires and pains with the world, and in some cases, a status symbol. It's not just about communicating anymore. The world is not that simple anymore.

Great product is not just about design

The industrial revolution brought along with it the capacity to manufacture stuff on a large scale leading to a low demand for hand-made stuff, craftsmen and designers. However, we have come a long way since then & call it what you will, custom designing is not limited to a basic few products now. Custom designing is the new hip thing to have. And why should it not be, after all, you are paying big bucks for it. To own a custom Prada, or a Bugatti is the dream for many. And why is that, because it's fashionable. It's reputable. It ads a sense of style, a charm that has eluded many throughout their lives.

Custom designing provides class, elegance & in some cases perfection with products. The effort made by a person manually handling the product, to mould it into the perfect product it can be, often results in, well, perfect products, with better build quality and greater life. After all, if a person manually scrubs the rubber at the right angles to give the faded effect, how can the effect be anything less than awesome.

Take for example, this Samsung Galaxy S9 cover. How can it not be perfect when the leather edges are manually scrubbed to provide the desired effect and scrubbed to become as smooth as it can be? And that's when you realise, that high quality design is not only limited to cars with leather interiors anymore. Custom jobs have penetrated the market of regular products looking to class up our regular use products. Take this Patine Range from Noreve for example. The skills and know-how of the designer lend a touch of sophistication which will make this Noreve case a much coveted and unique fashion accessory. Or this Lloyd Coat Wallet by Equus Leather. The painstaking efforts of the craftsmen result in truly impressive products that people can be proud to own for generations.

Designing for Aesthetics

However, design is not limited to these products. It has long moved from products that we can simply use to much more and is now often used for purely aesthetic purposes. As our friend Bobby duke explains here by crafting a simple rock into a thing of beauty by pure effort (and cutting machinery)

But it's the art being appreciated that provides craftsmen the extra nudge to showcase their designs. Lately, this has helped artists and craftsmen present their art in a much better light. Gone are the times when only a chosen few, handpicked by the king were appreciated. Now is the era of design by the common man. They might be nothing compared to world's best designers designing for a profession, but they are getting better at it every day. And the improved design just ads to the fashion sense.

But what is design without fashion?

Talking of fashion sense, let's talk about the mecca of fashion. Fashion weeks present to us all kinds of designers from all around the globe with all their wacky ideas. Some of those may be practical, others may not. That's why you see a denim skirt on the street, but not a plastic fruit hat. You can have accompanying matching case made for both of those at Casetify. But you would not want to match a kitty watch strap with a business suit or a custom leather watch with a 6-year-old playing on the beach. So, it becomes essentially about fashion. If the design works, i.e. it is fashionable, you are good to go. If it does not, time for a change. Simple as that.