Recently a friend of mine took a look at a personalised toiletry bag I had with my name custom-embroidered on it and joked that I should make a collage of all the things in my life I had personalised. I didn't realise how bad my obsession for customised items was until she pointed it out! I had the (what I consider) basics, like my towels at home and custom letterheads, to the bit more extravagant, like my zippy sports car having my name engraved on its side step that can only be seen when the door is ajar. I've always liked to have things that stand out and are different, and my love for gadgets obviously means that almost every product I have is customised in some way to make it unique and "mine".
It all started off with one of the first computers I ever bought— The Apple Power PC laptop that came with what I consider an ingenious USP — changeable covers. The laptop itself came with probably half a dozen designs that you could swap out, but I chose to customise it further with cut-out pictures, and christen it "Gianni" after my then favourite designer. Embarrassing in hindsight, but forgivable since I was probably 15 then! A lot of people, especially women, like to differentiate their products by buying a particular laptop over the other because of the colour, or having special cases and or trinkets tied to their mobile phones to make them stand out. Recent years have seen high end fashion houses make special accessories targeted towards these fashionistas with Chanel, Louis Vuitton, Marc Jacobs et al, all making covers for the iPad and cases for several smartphones.
There are other companies that I've used over the years to customise my products further, depending on the look that I'm going for and the amount I'm willing to spend to make that particular item stand out.
When JLo became a chart sensation and bling was "in" I'd found a company called Crystal Icing (www.crystalicing.com) online that I'd used to add some sparkle to my phone. I was using a windows-based phone back then, and had sent in the physical device to be covered up with rhinestones with a face of Marilyn Monroe on it. Since BlackBerry and iPhones seem to be the most popular device of choice these days, the company no longer requires you to send in your phone to be crystallised, but has the option for you to purchase covers for the devices. I recently purchased an iPhone 4 cover from them and am pleased with their quality of work, as they have the option to use the tiniest of crystals on the device.
Colour and glitter
Another company that successfully transforms your gadgets (among other things) into stunning jewellery-like objects is the UAE-based Jake and Gigi (www.jakeandgigi.com). Michelle Roberts, the owner of the brand, has a knack of putting together Swarovski crystals along with larger vintage embellishments to create items that are a smorgasbord of colour and glitter. With styles ranging from the Audrey Hepburn-inspired to the more muted angelic theme to dozens more, Michelle designs to suit almost every palette. If however you don't find what you're looking for, she is able to work with you or use items that you may already have to custom create an item that suits your mood. I had sent in a Tarina Tarantino "pink head" pendant to her some time back, which Michelle pulled apart and incorporated into a Blackberry cover she did for me. A few years ago a friend of mine gifted me a BlackBerry Curve in a bright orange, as was customised by another company based out of America called Colorware (www.colorwarepc.com). Not only did the phone look suitably funky, it looked like it was a limited edition piece and I used to literally have strangers coming up to me to ask me where I got it from. While Colorware isn't cheap (my friend was very generous) they are to gadgets what the company Fab Design is to cars. I recently used them to customize a Macbook Air for myself that I knew I would use for a few years to come. While ordering from them, you have the ability to either send in the item (for US customers only), have them ship you the parts (available for certain products) or buying a new item custom done. With a computer, you're able to colourise each part of the computer separately and have a rainbow of colours on the item if you so choose. Since they are, in essence, pulling apart the machine and replacing its outer facade, I was quite nervous to see how my laptop would turn out, but I was absolutely thrilled with the end result, especially the colours used which are as bright and vibrant as promised.
Ever since I started my blog and had a custom Avatar created for it, I've had an obsession of trying to get that image on absolutely everything I possibly can. It was only natural then that I'd try to get it onto all the gadgets that I surround myself with every day, and since I change them so often, needed to find a cost effective way to do it. After a bit of researching I found the company GelaSkins online (www.gelaskins.com), which allows you to buy gorgeous skins for a host of devices, or even customize your own. They allowed me to make custom decals very inexpensively for all my gadgets, and I can honestly say I've been blown away by the results! They're very easy to apply without any bubbles coming in during the application process, they don't leave a sticky film behind upon removal, and neither do they start to peel off after time. I even customised a skin for my Macbook Air that I'd bought from Colorware, to be able to customise it one step further. The skins can be even personalised with a photograph or a whole collage of them, or you can choose one from the literally hundreds of designs available.
I feel that just like clothes, the gadgets I use are a reflection of who I am and I absolutely abhor the idea of being just like every one else. If you like to stand out from the crowd too, hopefully this will give you some ideas to make the every day things you use stand out- just like your personality.
The writer is Director of Jumbo Electronics and a local blogger who writes at www.kiranscorner.com.
