steveb leatherworks: the blather

I like simple and i like functional. Although i dress up my work with as much ornamentation as a person can stand – the piece has to work to a high standard, my standard. Something as simple as a phone case presents a myriad of choices if you take the time to think about it – which i do… shape, material, mounting method, carry comfort, protection vs. ease of access, securing the phone as well as the case with flaps, snaps and all manner of conveyance, etc, etc. Seriously, take a good look at your phone case with a critical eye – and think, does the case accommodate your needs or have you accommodated its design?

I am always noodling with my phone because it has my email, calendar, contacts, text,  etc – so i need a case that allows the phone to get free with no secondary actions necessary, like snaps and flaps, a case i can get to easily – belt mounted, that protects the phone – especially in the case of an iPhone because they are fragile. So  when i got my iPhone i whipped up a case for myself – a prototype really. Well as in the case of most all of the things I make for myself, this prototype became “my” case and i never found the time to make another. Shoemakers, shoes.

Whilst partkaing of the rauccous festivities at the Grease Monkey mayhem lot in Sturgis this year, I became friendly with Bryan, owner of TPJ Customs..located in Lodi, California (poor guy, you got to see his industrial view…he may as well be in New Jersey…ha!) and he saw my iPhone case. Stuck in his mind it did – so when he purchased his own device, he rang up you know who to make a case like my own, but a bit improved and refined as my own was a bit Flintstones. One challenge – I don’t have an iPhone like Bryans and since i wet mould all my cases, i had to figure out how to make it work. A quick trip to the local Apple store showed me that my phone would work but it needed to be about 5 business cards “thicker” to match the new generation iPhone. Problem solved, I mocked my phone up with the added width and we were off to the races. If the case needs to be adjusted, i can talk Bryan through it.

heavy duty materials, simple design

Nothing fancy – just functional