In an airy storefront along a tree-lined Palo Alto, California street, the Speck Products design team is faced with a unique challenge. Designing a case for Apple’s mysterious, rumor-shrouded iPhone 5.
Arguably the most popular – and successful – smartphone and laptop case and cover maker, Speck is currently burning the ‘midnight oil’ to prepare designs for one of the world’s most secretive products: Apple’s iPhone 5. But it’s not the first time.
Speck has done this before – very successfully. With each incarnation of the newest Apple products they’ve come up with smart, sleek cases and covers that combine quiet luxury with industrial simplicity that has Speck products stocked in Apple stores across the country.
Like many people, I discovered Speck while looking for the perfect shell to protect my laptop – my most recent Speck acquisition was a charcoal cae for my Air, picked up in Apple’s Union Square store. I’ve grown to not just like my Speck cases, but really love them.
I think a lot of other gadget geeks feel the same way. Personally, I blame the first wave of iPods and their fun-to-accessorize form factor for spawning our collective obsession for having to buyeven more stuff to go with our gadgets.
When I found out Speck was not only local to the Bay Area but that they were opening their very first store, I joined CNet’s Daniel Terdiman for the opening.
Turns out it’s much more than a storefront, combining retail with design lab so the geeky-passionate design team can interact with customers face to face, pairing the creative with the customers – something I find refreshing in a Valley full of people pushing products that practically have disdain for users. For me, the icing on this cake was meeting a very happy staff behind the scenes at the indie company, and finding female CEO Irene Baran at the helm.
Speck’s designs have scored high with everyone, and not just me – though especially with Apple fans.
The ‘Toblerone-style’ iPad 2 case and stand is a must-see, equal parts gadget couture and uncanny entrepreneurial design. One of their most popular designs is their iPhone 4 case, with its low-profile ID and credit card holder and its built-in, retractable kickstand.
What intrigued me most, however, was trying to figure out how Speck can possibly design a case for a product like the iPhone before details about its super-secret specifications even hit the gadget blogs. Misplaced iPhone prototypes notwithstanding, that is.
Arguably the most popular – and successful – smartphone and laptop case and cover maker, Speck is currently burning the ‘midnight oil’ to prepare designs for one of the world’s most secretive products: Apple’s iPhone 5. But it’s not the first time.
Speck has done this before – very successfully. With each incarnation of the newest Apple products they’ve come up with smart, sleek cases and covers that combine quiet luxury with industrial simplicity that has Speck products stocked in Apple stores across the country.
Like many people, I discovered Speck while looking for the perfect shell to protect my laptop – my most recent Speck acquisition was a charcoal cae for my Air, picked up in Apple’s Union Square store. I’ve grown to not just like my Speck cases, but really love them.
I think a lot of other gadget geeks feel the same way. Personally, I blame the first wave of iPods and their fun-to-accessorize form factor for spawning our collective obsession for having to buyeven more stuff to go with our gadgets.
When I found out Speck was not only local to the Bay Area but that they were opening their very first store, I joined CNet’s Daniel Terdiman for the opening.
Turns out it’s much more than a storefront, combining retail with design lab so the geeky-passionate design team can interact with customers face to face, pairing the creative with the customers – something I find refreshing in a Valley full of people pushing products that practically have disdain for users. For me, the icing on this cake was meeting a very happy staff behind the scenes at the indie company, and finding female CEO Irene Baran at the helm.
Speck’s designs have scored high with everyone, and not just me – though especially with Apple fans.
The ‘Toblerone-style’ iPad 2 case and stand is a must-see, equal parts gadget couture and uncanny entrepreneurial design. One of their most popular designs is their iPhone 4 case, with its low-profile ID and credit card holder and its built-in, retractable kickstand.
What intrigued me most, however, was trying to figure out how Speck can possibly design a case for a product like the iPhone before details about its super-secret specifications even hit the gadget blogs. Misplaced iPhone prototypes notwithstanding, that is.
No comments:
Post a Comment