We at Carsonified are not normally found blanket stitching and shaping felt - email, Twitter and RSS is usually our cup of tea. This site and our custom-made Hugs stem from a project called Idea Week.
We gave ourselves the challenge of dreaming up, making and then launching a project within one week, and Hugs - a range of covers for MacBook Pros and iPhones - are the result!
Mel Kirk has been a Carsonite for a year and a half. Mel started her life as a child at which stage she swallowed a marble. As a fully grown human, she stopped swallowing marbles and started playing with web apps. Photos.
I made Oggie Senior and Junior to keep your Macbook Pro and iPhone warm. Crafted from the highest quality felt, lined and hand-stitched, Oggie Senior is scary enough to warn people off your stuff, yet still give you a cheeky smile in the morning!
I want a hug!
As a child Gillian Carson came top of her class in textile design but very often skipped school to stay home and watch Bewitched! She still wiggles her nose every now and again to check if the magic is still there. Photos.
The 'Nanny' range combines warm, sparkly love with a sturdy 1950s outlook. Nanny is there to give your hardware a loving embrace when it's sad but its no-nonsense practicality means your Mac will never catch a cold.
I want a hug!
Ryan Carson is the Co-Founder of Carsonified and hails from sunny Colorado Springs, Colorado. He's having a blast running Carsonified with his wife Gill. Photos.
Toy Story is inspired by my childhood in the analogue age (born in '77). The most advanced toy I had was Electronic Battleship so I thought it'd be interesting to contrast a MacBook with old toys. I hope you enjoy this one-off, handmade item.
I want a hug!
Elliot, or Elliot Jay Stocks to give him his full moniker, is a web designer extraordinare who takes a particular disliking to certain design cliches. Carsonified's newest recruit, he also has a talent for cartoon illustration. What else does he have hidden under his smock? Photos.
The Framed range of Hugs for iPhone and MacBook Pro are really the only choice of protection for the discerning designer - with a wry sense of humour. These limited edition items feature unique illustrations by Mr EJS himself.
I want a hug!
Lisa joined Carsonified in June 2006 following a career in magazine publishing and is managing editor of Vitamin. All she wants for Christmas is a time machine. Photos.
The Evelyn MacBook Pro and iPhone Hugs evoke the vintage glamour of the 1940s. De rigeur tweed, sparkling jewels and black velvet - it's just the thing for a gal about town! The iPhone Hug even has a pocket for your headphones. Like the tweed - it's sensible.
I want a hug!
I have been a part of the Carsonified gang for just over 6 months. They are all getting to know my habits, which I have been told include humming tunelessly along to any song that's playing and constantly complaining that I'm hungry. My aim in life is to see as much of the world as I can before I get too old to get on a plane. Photos.
The Jo Lo range of Hugs is for all you glamorous individuals out there! Technology and glamour don't usually mix and I think it's about time it did. Seriously strokeable, the iPhone and Macbook Pro Hugs are made from zebra print material (fake of course!) lined and hand-stitched - I have the scars to prove it!
I want a hug!Persuade us that your MacBook Pro or iPhone needs a Hug - it'll only take a few minutes. Simply fill in this here form with your name, email address (not for marketing purposes - just in case you're successful) and complete the following sentences. We'll pick only the most deserving candidates and despatch our Hugs to make it all better. You have until Thursday 13th December at 12pm GMT!
Sorry, but our Hugs have left home! Applications are now closed and more information can be found here. Thanks for all the Hug requests, guys!
Each Hug will arrive delicately wrapped in tissue paper and encased in its very own custom box. Also tucked inside you'll find a Certificate of Origin, which records the name of your Hug and who created it, and finally a Moleskine journal.
The journal that is included with your Hug is very important. After one month of using your Hug, we would love it if you could pass it on to another deserving person. Before you do, use the journal to record a little about yourself, what you do, where you live, what you love... then pass it on.
We assemble at the Carsonfied office, at 9am ready and willing to have ideas. To help us in our quest for the elusive idea we each brought in an object to partake in our own little version of 'Show & Tell'. Among the objects of delight were a violin, a photograph, a camera and ‘Trouble for Trumpets’ (ask Ryan). But soon we were out on the street doing some instant market research to find out what makes people tick. Once we had that down pat were ready to hatch our plan.
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The plan is hatched and rapidly growing into a cute little duckling. We have a brainstorming meeting to come up with a name for our idea & the result is Hugs. We quickly progress to wireframing the site and fleshing out some designs for each person’s individual Hug. Much sketching of logos ensues and Christmas music is played.
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Time to put our plan into practice. But first a little shopping for materials; fabric, thread, sparkly bits and felt. By 11:00am it’s eyes down sketching, sewing, cursing the sewing machine, laughing at Elliot's pinning skills and saying things like 'how you do blanket stitch again?'. Gill works on creating a pattern that everyone can work from.
Crunch time! OMG now we have to actually make the blinkin' things and build the site? No wait ... and take some gorgeous photography, and write some glowing copy, and set up a Wufoo form, oh and tell the world about it. Luckily, we’re all singing from the same hymn sheet, and our ducks are all in a line which means that even though we go a little 'off piste' at one point, and some 'blue sky' thinking it all comes together beautifully in the end.
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