Shortly after getting my HD+ from Target, I broke down and grabbed one of the 360 covers with a built in any-orientation stand so I could bring myself to put the tablet in my bag and take it out of the house. I felt downright ripped off when I got the $40 cover out of the box and found that it lacked the magnetic clasp that had been so handy on my $30 Javoedge cover for my Nook Color and the exterior texture resembled an industrial floor mat or a flak jacket. The cover has grown on me since then and functionally I have no complaints--it performs solidly as both protection and a stand in both portrait and landscape. Aesthetically, though, I just couldn't get used to it.
I think what they were going for with that texture was a stylized homage to clothbound hardcovers, which today got me thinking: how do you dress up a hardcover?
The answer is obvious:
I tried out several dust jackets from my shelves and even a brown bag book cover (a la primary school) and had just about given up on the idea when my eye fell on the copy of
Hero next to my desk. Most of the jackets I tried not only fit poorly, but weren't necessarily something I'd want emblazoned across the case every time I pulled it out. This book I am glad to recommend far and wide, it goes above and beyond being thematically suited to a device loaded with thousands of stories, and the jacket from the edition I have just happens to be a near-perfect fit
The folded paper cover is a viable idea, too, though brown bags are a bit rough on the hands. Some nicer paper would make a great foundation for decorating a tablet to your heart's content (and/or use it as a mobile desk blotter to scribble notes or doodle).
Both the dust jacket and the paper cover are best suited to the "stand" covers where there's a gap between the tablet cradle and the back cover to fold over a paper flap.