How about something like this for a phone, tablet, or laptop cover?

[G+_George Kozi]

How about something like this for a phone, tablet, or laptop cover?

 

Originally shared by Dirk Reul

 

Handmade books, flasks and boxes - gorgeous

 

Alex from Serbia creates and sells these incredible pieces on Etsy. 

Yes, this book looks like a corset :) 

 

http://www.etsy.com/shop/aLexLibris

 

from the Etsy page:

 

Sumptuous baroque hand made leather journal. An exquisitely rich detailed embossed book for your thoughts …. hand tinted leather creating an unique colour gradient . The centre of the front cover presents alligator texture within patina brass chains... Book edges are carved and colored with dark tones and partially gilded with specialist bookmakers antique finish.

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I cannot even begin to express my delight at seeing these. There are some beautiful pieces in the shop, Flasks, boxes. Nothing here comes across as very cheap. But all of this looks incredible! 

 

Carrie Canup Bliss Morgan Lise Bjerregaard Nielsen Stephanie Dreyfürst Brigitte Wooten Michelle C Maria B-R Henni Tenhunen Dawn Hart Jackson Annie Yim Sandy Berkshier and I am sure I forget a ton of others that might like these :) 

[G+_Dave Trautman]

Twelve South have been making these things. Very nice too. Got one for my mother's iPad years ago.

 

http://twelvesouth.com/products/bookbook/

 

They call them Book Books.

[G+_George Kozi]

I kinda like this stuff. It's a link to the past, but contains a device that gives you all you need these days... And let's face it, some designs don't care about time. They just exist on their own terms, and if they weren't so classy, they'd make a rude gesture towards fashion too..

[G+_Dave Trautman]

Alex's designs are one-of-a-kind pieces of art. Beautiful objects.

 

Mike Elgan has endorsed wrapping your MacBook or iPad in something which looks less valuable than an Apple device in order to avoid advertising your ownership in public places. I gave my mother a book cover for her iPad to both help her watch video on it (it acts as a stand too) but also to travel with it and keep it protected while not drawing attention to it. She's very old so carrying a book looks normal for her.

 

The book book also allows a person to keep things around the house which intruders would not discover, but that's a low scale rationale. I actually was attracted to them for their authentic looking design. But when I got it the materials and feel of the book book was delightful.

 

One of the things the book book highlights for me is how each new medium obsoletes a previous one while at the same time retrieves an older one as art. This is from the Tetrad structure Marshall McLuhan and his son Eric developed in the late 80s. Antiquities become more valuable once their descendants are sidelined by a new advance.

 

I've also noticed this with turntables. Since the advent of the CD makers of vinyl turntables have elevated their designs to become art objects (with art object prices to match) instead of the unobtrusive players they used to be. As the CD is becoming obsolete we will see some sort of renaissance of analog music systems. We already see people promoting the sound quality of the vacuum tube.

 

I believe the value of hand-crafted things continues to grow because nearly everything in our lives today is built by robot systems. Even hand-crafted bread. So, perhaps, Apple will find a way to make things appear to be hand-crafted but still fashionably current. The dream is to have each product appear to be unique to the buyer. Of course, this reduces the resale value (as engraving has shown). I believe this is the direction most manufacturers are heading. Toward customized appearance and personalized decorative features. The iPhone cover market seems to be clearly an indication of the desire for this in the marketplace.

[G+_George Kozi]

We live in a standardized, mass production culture. The craft of the master that makes something from raw material to end product is all but lost. Just imagine a pair of leather shoes made specifically for your feet, accommodating every single quirk of your anatomy. A pair of shoes for which you have to go somewhere to be measured, once in the beginning, then once again weeks later for the fine tuning. Those are shoes you will cherish. 

 

That kind of craft, that kind of knowhow has become a rare art. and most people have no idea what it is, the same way they don't know how real butter is supposed to taste.