Hand Crafted
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Posted: November 22, 2013
Read more »It’s a gray, chilly day here in Pad & Quill land. Ice is forming at the edges of lakes and solidifying ponds, encouraging the remaining waterfowl to sequester and follow the gray-haired snow birds south. It’s a chill that defies overcoats ands sweaters, and immobilizes hands. It also invigorates double coated dogs, and so I found myself at the local dog park with Bear the psuedofox. It’s my forty minutes of solitude away from iPhones and Aria’s, spreadsheets and ledgers. It’s his forty minutes to be all canine, racing and romping with any of a dozen other friends, sans the restraints of a leash. It’s a thing of beauty fashioned by nature. Then nature collides with reason when frozen hands and the office beckon and the mutt decides to become the official greeter for each dog entering the park.
Designing new products is somewhat akin to the dog park experience, whereby “twenty” minutes
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Posted: November 01, 2013
Read more »Having been struck with a craving for remarkably decadent chocolate, I was compelled to make my way across the street to the local gas station. Truth be told, and no great surprise here, they don’t sell decadent chocolate at my local gas station. Indeed the average lunch purchase consists of 2 hot dogs, a 20oz Mountain Dew and a pack of Camels. Our little warehouse is located in a salty area of town which is about as likely to produce Fran’s delectable Salted Caramels as it is to have a bullet free night. But I was desperate, so Milk Duds it was and I sauntered back to my pseudo cubical.
The new iPad Air has been released and it is nothing short of stunning. Heavenly, salted caramels stunning. Then comes the case, a so called Smart Cover. iPad Air with it’s sublimely slender profile and pristinely clear retina screen, encased in plastic. I think I just choked on my milk duds. You might as well encase the Mona Lisa in a cheap Walmart frame.
When
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Posted: October 04, 2013
Read more »I actually heard a case maker recently say that they do not like wood and don't want it being in the way of the iPhone (inferring us in the comment). Really? Isn't finished wood in an iPhone cover sorta...amazing? Another maker decided to use plastic to hold iPhones in their covers.
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Posted: September 16, 2013Read more »
When you enter the world of e-commerce and begin talking with various consultants the conversation eventually leads to dropping the name of “a guy” they have overseas who can mass produce your product with shoddy materials and psuedo craftsmanship, while guaranteeing great margins. There is a prolific market for cheap crap, as non discerning consumers push for more and more. While business can be built within this paradigm, it’s not building with impunity.
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Posted: August 07, 2013
Read more »A post from Mr. PQ
Really Brian, Part Deux? Yes, really. After Mrs. PQ's last post we got a wee bit of feedback from our French loving friends. Surprisingly they were not that excited that she placed the French language and swearing in the same category. So I thought maybe pay tribute to French in the title of this post (aka damage control).
This is the second post about why Kari, myself and the team are really passionate about the word 'Crafted'. In my previous post I mentioned our hard fought battle to find Buckram cloth that was not butt ugly. We finally did and could not be more proud of the Cartella Linen Case for the Macbook Air that utilizes a gorgeously strong linen buckram cloth.
