Sketches - 11

Thanks for the suggestions last week. Open to more. :)

Week - 16

Recently got together with a few friends in Yaletown, an area in Downtown Vancouver. View from North Vancouver to Downtown Vancouver here.

Observation: Vancouver seems to have a very specific style of architecture.

See?

It's a clean/uniform look but I don't understand why people aren't being creative. Obviously, not every building here looks like this but close to 90% of newly built ones are seemingly following this trend.

I usually talk about things I like. Here's another - Vespa scooters.

I just really like the look of painted, pressed steel. Love it.

A Honda clearly "inspired" by the Vespa. Called the Jazz in Canada but known as the Honda CHF50 elsewhere. Odd naming because the Honda Fit is called Honda Jazz in many regions.

I wouldn't have noticed this guy cleaning windows till he started talking on his phone.

Typical Miele design language.

Why Aluminum > Plastic in many ways.

Another weekly (what a lie) upload of photos.

iPhone 4 Bumpers

My free bumper arrived the other day. Packaging is minimal as usual.

As you probably all know, the bumper just protects the sides of the iPhone. I'm using it with front and rear screen protection.

The bumper is thicker than the phone so you don't scratch it when you put it on a flat surface.

Despite common belief, the bumper is more than a rubber band. It's got a plastic frame that adds rigidity and aluminum buttons for the volume and lock buttons. The case is really well made, though the original $30 price is too much.

The attention to detail is just awesome. There is one huge annoyance though. The hole for the headphone jack is really small and 80% of plugs are too thick for it. I'm really hating this design decision.

It's interesting to see how different the iPhone feels with the bumper on. Without it, it feels expensive and intricate (because someone will ask: that app is Convertbot - one of my favorite apps).

And with it, feels rugged and somewhat generic.

With the iPad. I'm not the biggest fan of black BTW. Interesting how this ended up.

Sketches - 10

More sketches. Thanks to people on twitter for recommending things to sketch. Feel free to give me ideas for the next wave of sketches in the comments. ;)

The Official Apple iPad Case

I recently paid a visit to Vancouver's Pacific Center Apple store.

For this. Woah wait, I already have a case for my iPad right? You must be going, "Andrew why are you wasting money on another case?"

Well, this is why. You should never buy cheap Chinese goods off of ebay despite their alluring prices. The fake smelly pleather is separating from the cardboard underneath, which is starting to warp madly.

And my iPad constantly slips out of the case, despite the existence of this ugly wrinkled flap.

The reason I bought the knock-off case from China was because of this folding functionality.

Here it is. I think it's rather attractive, though many people seem to hate it.

There is much passionate despise toward's this case on the internet (which is why I didn't buy it in the first place). The main reason is the material. I'm not certain on what it's made of but it collects dust and finger prints extremely well.

Fully opened. Thanks to the thin design of the case, you can easily fold the flap back.

The iPad is secured by the tight fit of the case and a microfiber flap. The case is a really tight fit so if you are planning on removing your ipad often, this isn't the case for you.

The back is minimal.

The flap is reinforced with plastic which enables this transforming magic.

The tab that holds the front flap also hides the text "Designed by Apple in California / Assembled in China". How very Apple.

The case is held together by these ridges and they are slightly intrusive when it comes to button access. These ridges are also a bit uncomfortable when you hold the device. Annoying, but not a deal breaker.

Typing with the case = awesome.

Watching videos with the case = awesome.

The case does wobble a bit due to the character of the material. Atleast the iPad doesn't slip out like my old case.

All in all, I love it. Yes, the case collects dust and oil like crazy but they come off quite easily with a damp towel. And yes, everyone hates the ridges, but that is some serious nitpicking.

It's thin, functional and beautiful. Lesson of the day: don't trust everything on the internet and never buy Chinese knock-off products that are suspiciously cheap.

SGP Steinheil EX Ultra Crystal Screen Protector

I have been wondering if I should buy a case for my iPhone 4 but decided that I wanted to have it as "nude" as possible. My plan is to have a protective film on the front and back and use Apple's bumper case. After some research, I discovered that SGP made some decent screen protectors and went with the SGP Steinheil EX Ultra Crystal.

The whole package was $22 and comes packed with everything you need to get the perfect application. I purchased it off of this seller on ebay by the way.

Here is the meat of the package. It comes with 2 sets of front and back protection. Yes, 2 sets. Considering that these are pretty decent screen protectors, this product is a rather good deal.

Here is the result. The film is made of aluminosilicate glass and has a silicone adhesive. Although they call it "glass" - it'll still feels and scratches like plastic. Neverthless, the result is pretty good.

The film is definitely "ultra crystal" as SGP's marketing calls it. No rainbowing, no distortion, just pure retina display.

The SGP is significantly thicker than most of the screen protectors. With the flash on, you can easily see the film's thickness. The yellow is from the flash so don't worry about the film having a tint.

Now here are its issues. Due to the thickness of the film, there is a bit of lifting on the edges of the film. I found that it's possible to remove them by constantly pushing down with your fingernails. It's a non-problem once you get rid of them but is still irritating. As you can see, I still have an area around the camera that needs some work.

The film is also a fingerprint magnet. Once you put the film on, you immediately realize the effectiveness of an oleophobic coating. SGP does sell a version with an oleophobic coating but does not include protection for the back. I've also heard that Power Support makes good screen protectors.

Despite its the downfalls, I'm happy with the results.

Sketches - 9

Hey, look! More sketches. I promise to post many more next week.