CALDER Guitar, Violin & Laptop Case Design

Calder AirLift for MacBook Air: first view

2008-03-13T16:55:00.002Z

Here's our latest design - the AirLift edition laptop case for the MacBook Air. The Air slips underneath a lip at the rear and front of the case which holds it in place.

I'll be posting these and more shots on the main website shortly.

Keith Richards' Louis Vuitton guitar case

2008-03-05T12:33:00.014Z

After 3 years developing a guitar case fit for the finest guitars it was a suprise to come across Annie Leibovitz striking image of Keith Richards with a Louis Vuitton guitar case casually by his side.

My first reaction was shock - there was a giant on my patch. And then disappointment - I have a great regard for Mr Richards and have harboured a dream that one day he might have one of my cases.

And I was disconcerted because I'd planned a very similar sort of image for my marketing - my case off center in a cool location with musicians. My idea had been for a working environment - recording studio - bar - with smoke and drink and musicians' mess.

And thinking along those lines the LV image begs all kinds of questions. Why is there no smoke and booze ? The whole thing is so sedate - Mr Richard looks intense - with a cup of coffee ? And why an unplugged electric guitar ? Yes I've played my electric unplugged in hotel rooms but that's because I'm a polite Englishman and not a rock legend.

All that said I take comfort that the LV work gives credence to the notion that truly great musicians and truly great guitars deserve exceptional cases - I'll drink to that.

Here's a reminder of what the Calder guitar case looks like

There are more shots of our case on the Calder website and here on this blog.

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Developing AirLift edition for MacBook Air

2008-03-05T10:37:00.001Z

Here's the system we've developed for holding the MacBook Air - a simple leather covered foam lip at the top and bottom of the interior.

Calder AirLift edition for MacBook Air

2008-02-29T13:10:00.003Z

Late last year we launched our small size laptop case in expectation of the then only rumoured Apple subcompact. Now the AppleBook Air has arrived we are creating the Calder Airlift.

Work is on the case is under way - here are a couple of CAD images. Images of the first AirLift to follow soon.

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Calder laptop case in black

2008-01-18T12:37:00.001Z

Dark chocolate brown is Calder's signature colour - and red the counterpoint colour. Now a very urbane black with a fine cross print.

Here's the sample we just had made up.

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Work in progress: Sept-Dec 07

2007-12-12T09:33:00.001Z

Over the last few month I've been busy tweaking details on the design of our cases:

- improving the bow holder on the violin case so the bow cannot slide from side to side.

- talking to tanners about different colours/finishes of leather that we might use.

- using ultrasound cutter to get an absolutely precise fit for the leather insert in the handles.

- designing custom made precision screws for the stainless steel handle plate.

- revisiting the design of the laptop suspension system so it takes less space.

I can see that for the next few months (or maybe years) there will a continual process of refining the design and construction of the cases. As well as my own quest for perfection feedback from users will play into these changes.

On the marketing side I've been busy talking to journalists and making trips to new markets.

The laptop cases have been written up by the very elegant Gatsby magazine as well as two Dutch magazines FemBusiness and Salome.

Here are shots of cases we've made recently.

You can see the whole range on the main Calder website.

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Calder goes Red: laptop case for Apple Featherbook

2007-09-29T09:37:00.001+01:00

We are now into our series 1.1 - with a smaller laptop case in red organic leather.

The smaller size is designed to hold subcompact laptops like the Flybook and the strongly rumoured Apple FeatherBook. The case will also take a 12" Mac Powerbook.

More pictures on the main Calder website

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Calder & Tarnsjo Swedish organic leather

2007-09-29T09:27:00.001+01:00

I am very pleased to have started working with leather from the world renowned Tarnsjo Tannery based in Sweden. Founded in 1873 Tarnsjo have a reputation for the very finest quality leather made using environmentally low impact tanning.

Here's a shot of their tannery.

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Calder cases now in the Bill Amberg store

2007-09-15T17:07:00.001+01:00

Leather design guru Bill Amberg has given us great support during the final stages of our product development. Bill has a true passion for leather and I am honoured to be collaborating with him and his team.

I am happy to report that samples of the Calder laptop and electric guitar case are now on show in Bill's elegan flagshop store at Chepstow Corner, Notting Hill Gate, London.

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Crush testing Calder electric

2007-07-11T15:59:00.000+01:00

I set out to make cases that were extremely strong as well as light and pleasing to look at.

For some time now I've been thinking about how to provide some visual indication of the strength.

So today I went to the local Bentley and Rolls Royce dealer and asked him to lower one of his autos onto the Calder electric case.

This auto weighs 2,000kg (2 tons).

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Calder laptop and electric case together

2007-06-27T15:13:00.001+01:00

I like the way the cases look together so here they are.

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Thoughts on design: Zen & Japanese design

2007-06-26T14:28:00.000+01:00

I have been inspired by these clear and concise posts from AenDirect on Wabi-Sabi (Zen principles of aesthetics) and this post from Design Sojourn on the philosophies of Toshiyuki Kita and Naoto Fukasawa.

categories: thoughts on design

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Calder electric guitar case now online

2007-06-18T15:16:00.000+01:00

Images and information for our electric guitar are now on the Calder website.

Dimensions: 3' 6" x 1' 3" x 4" (1070 x 400 x 100 mm)
Weight: 8lbs (3.7 kilos)
Price: £3,000 excluding VAT

categories: electric guitar case

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Calder cases the word spreads

2007-06-18T10:14:00.000+01:00

The full Calder website has been up for a few weeks and it's good to see we are starting to get blogged. My thanks to the bloggers and to people who have recommended us in places like uSnob and This Next.

Here are some links:

MusicThing
Luxist
Acquire
Trendygadgets

Calder electric guitar case #1 completed

2007-06-05T19:04:00.000+01:00

Here are first shots of the Calder electric case #1 just finished today.

We've revised the handle design on this model - revealing the machine screws that hold the handle to case and showing more of the stainless steel. This version seems to me more honest and has more character to it.

We've also taken a new direction with the interior - draping the velvet loosely in some places - this accentuates the texture and the iridescent colours of the silk velvet.

These changes to the handle and interior seem particularly well suited to spririt of the electric guitar.

The case shown here is for Strat type guitars - the case for Les Paul type guitars will be deeper.

More shots of the case for electrics will go on the main Calder website in the next
few days.

categories: electric guitar case

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Calder electric guitar case fitting out

2007-05-21T21:28:00.000+01:00

Johan Ulvede and I have been working on fitting out the electric guitar case today. Here are some shots of work in progress.

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Calder laptop case with suspension system

2007-05-16T18:13:00.000+01:00

Here is the Calder leather on carbon fiber laptop case with suspension system fitted.

We use two densities of foam in the block around the laptop - a high density foam to hold the laptop firmly and a lower density foam round the outer edge which creates a crumple zone to absorb impact shock.

The suspension unit is removable to provide more space inside the case when not carrying a laptop.

The case is large enought to provide good protection to laptops up to 1' 2" x 10" (36cm x 26cm). The suspension will made to order to fit client's laptops.

There will be more photographs on our website soon.

categories: laptop case

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カルダー社のウェブサイト日本語版を立ち上げました。

2007-05-09T11:02:00.000+01:00

社のヒラリーさんと正二郎さんの多大なる協力によりカルダー社のウェブサイト日本語版ができました。

日本の皆様が日本語版サイトをご覧頂き、お楽しみ頂けることを心から喜ばしく思っています。

翻訳に関するお問い合わせは hilary@livingtransformations.co.uk まで。

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Calder laptop case #1 first photos

2007-04-30T15:48:00.000+01:00

Here are some quick cell phone shots of the first Calder laptop case to be completed.

I'm very happy with the way this case has turned out - Marie Upshire, the leatherworker who made it has done a great job.

The next step is to cover the suspension system cream calfskin to match the interior.

We will be taking orders for this case in a couple of weeks - price approx GBP 2300 excluding taxes.

categories: laptop case

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Marie Upshire - exceptional leather worker

2007-04-29T18:41:00.000+01:00

I'm very glad to have discovered Marie Upshire - she is fun to be with and is a brilliant craftsperson. Marie trained with the legendary Finnegans of Bond Street - a great name in English leather luggage in the 60's.

This is Marie making a final check on the first Calder laptop case which she has just completed.

categories: laptop case

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Calder laptop case suspension system revision

2007-04-26T12:15:00.000+01:00

My original design was a system of small foam blocks placed around the interior of the laptop case - the post on this is here.

Thanks to the suggestion of an associate I've revised this to a single foam block recessed to hold the laptop.
In the final product extra protection will be provided by a crumple zone of softer foam around the edge of the recess.

The whole thing will be covered with soft cream coloured calfskin to match the interior of the case. Straps will hold the laptop in place.

This is a mock up I made this morning.

categories: laptop case

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Calder laptop case coming soon

2007-04-24T09:52:00.000+01:00

We are working hard to get the laptop case completed and onto the website. I'm hoping the case will be ready by the first week in May.

We are also continually refining the main Calder site and will be adding new photos to show each stage in the construction process.

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Thoughts on minimalist design

2007-04-24T09:38:00.000+01:00

I came across this elegant post The art of minimalist design.on Jonas Bonér's blog. Althought the central focus is software design the scope of his piece runs much wider.

I especially liked the clarity of this quote from Antoine de Saint-Exupéry “Perfection (in design) is achieved not when there is nothing more to add, but rather when there is nothing more to take away.”

There's also some good stuff about cohesion and integrity in design.

categories: thoughts on design

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Calder website up and running

2007-04-09T18:29:00.000+01:00

The full version of the Calder website is now up and running and we are now taking orders for classical guitar and violin cases.

The laptop case and cases for electrical and acoustic guitars will be available later this spring.

After 3 years R&D this is a proud moment for myself and all the people who build our cases.

It is also a happy moment for Fergus Noble who has worked so hard to get every detail of the website working perfectly and has patiently dealt with my many last minute requests for changes.

The site is here.

categories:

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Calder classical guitar case #1 ready

2007-03-26T22:08:00.000+01:00

Here are today's shots showing our classical guitar case in its final form. This is our second complete case design - another big step forward for us.

The classical guitar is large compared to the violin and it took Johan Ulvede many many hours to make the leather exterior and fit it out this case so elegantly.

After such a long time in the making I am very happy to see the real thing looks as elegant as I dreamed it would.

We will be running crush and drop tests on the two case designs in the next couple of weeks.

categories:

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