A story of the PSP case
Making accessories for portable technological devices is an entertaining hobby activity, but it is also a growing business. As soon as Apple registered that personalized iPod socks, sleeves, and cases were becoming popular items among the iPod users, it started to sell its own iPod accessories. Currently, these include at least the rainbow-colored tennis socks, the “XtremeMac TuffWraps” for iPod Nanos, as well as the “with-sense-of-style” iPod cases by Kate Spade.
Sony got the point right from the beginning. It asked various famous artists and fashion designers, including Jeremy Scott, Goyard, Fendi, Adidas Respect Me, Miu Miu, Emilio Pucci, Eley Kishimoto, and Maharishi, to design their own version of the PSP case. These exclusive cases are sold at a Parisian design store Colette. About the Miu Miu case, they write:
“The Miu Miu PSP case is very glam and rock'n'roll. Vintage looking, with its worn patented black, brown or bright red leather, it can be worn on your shoulder like a minimalist bag. Perfectly suited for a shopping afternoon with music in your ears, it wraps the console, games and UMDs in a small zipped pocket. A few buttons can be pinned on the front to give it a jolly rock and funk look. Miu Miu saw it right. The brand's fanatics and vintage lovers will kill for it. Colors: brown, sharp red. 275 EUR.”
Work inspires work. Seeing the fashion cases at Colette had just the expected effect on me: I decided to craft my own version of the Miu Miu case. Just for fun.
At the Marche de Vanves I bought a nice&soft vintage leather purse, which is perfectly sized to be a PSP case. I also bought some old pins, which are actually some kind of ads (from the 50s-60s?). One has a woman’s figure with a text “Pruidam”. The other apparently sells some kind of paint. It says “JOP Color Pulverisateur.” Back home I glued these pins on the case and added some Barbie shoes on the strap. I thinglinked it with the code 445B88C5.
Now, I’m going to send this case traveling. First reason: I'm interested in how the history of objects could be documented when things move from one user to another. Second reason: I'm simply exploring the uses of thinglinks. So, If you a) would like to host this PHP case for some time (and maybe design it a bit more) and b) you are willing to document a couple of moments of its life on your blog or on flickr, please, e-mail me!!
In referring to this post, please use: thing:445B88C5.
Hey - my psp needs some rock-and-roll housing, and i'd be happy to give your handiwork a temporary home!
Posted by: matt | November 23, 2005 at 11:05 PM
Splendid!! I will send it to you!
Posted by: Ulla-Maaria | November 24, 2005 at 12:05 AM
Just a quick note to say that i just published your PSP case on Google Base:
i got the idea when i read your blog post about the psp case, noting that "thing:445B88C5" wasn't a hyperlink. i think it definitely should be; for now the place to link to could be Google Base. GB still isn't very social, but maybe the content can be used to create a nicer service on top of it? i'm really missing comments, ratings, pretty links, etc. nevertheless, they are doing many things right...
Posted by: Eric Wahlforss | November 27, 2005 at 01:17 PM
Unfortunate news regarding the life of the PSP case: it is mysteriously disappeared on its way to Matt Jones via Nokia's internal mail. What has happened?
Posted by: Ulla-Maaria | December 18, 2005 at 02:53 AM