Need some honest feedback

[Lee Haney]

I am part of a family run business called Brown Brothers. We design and manufacture our own cases. We have just finished our latest design and its a case for the kindle 4, however we also want to make this same case for the kindle 3, touch and fire. We have not even got a website yet. Need some honest opinion about the case. Appreciate praise and criticism. Also would like to know what you think a fair price would be. Thanks.

[ProfCrash]

It looks wonderful. I would remove the brown brothers from the case. I have not seen any case that has the name of the company on the outside like that. A price point would be helpful.

[Lee Haney]

good point about the company name on the spine. I am just eager to promote the business and worry that people will not know who made the case or atleast it would be alot less obvious with a small discreet logo, but maybe your right, I could emboss it on the inside or back smaller. thanks for the feedback much appreciated, a price is hard to choose. some brand are very high, I dont want to under value our case however I dont want to isolate buyers by charging to much, I think for the quality it should be atleast $30 especially when comparing it to m-edge and oberon whos cases retail upto $70 not to mention official amazon cases again $50 plus so I think $30 atleast is fair.

[kacir]

Originally Posted by Lee Haney

Need some honest opinion about the case.

I personally strongly dislike cases that encase the front of the device in leather (or even worse, with plastic leather-like material - Grrrrrr!). However, given the unfortunate construction of the current generation of reading devices there is little choice. I guess I am spoiled by Sony PRS-500 that had a clip on the back. Also the first prototypes of PocketBook 9xx series had four magnetic clips at the back for attaching to the cover.

Having said that, this particular case looks very nice. I even like it more than the Oberon cases with awkward strips holding the device in place. Very much will depend on the quality of leather and craftsmanship. Try to get some nice reviews and endorsements if you are going to sell those on-line. It is very difficult to show real quality for this kind of product in a few photos.

Please make sure that the "window" in the leather front is wide enough, so the screen isn't obscured. Also make sure that it is big enough so it doesn't cast shadow on the screen where the text is displayed, even if the device is lighted from the side.

What is inside the leather front? A piece of cardboard or something sturdier? You could also claim that the cover protects the screen if you use a piece of stiff plastic, or a piece of carbon-fiber laminate (for a deluxe model perhaps), or a thin dibond board.

[David Munch]

Maybe you should consider more colors, to differentiate from the biggest producer of those kinds of covers, BookBook. Like, dark blue or green prehaps.

I like the design otherwise, although I could imagine some people being put off by the amount of gold color in the design.

I do agree though, that should shave off a few milimeters on the inside, so the leather isn't too close to the screen. It may feel too crammed, and even though you know it isn't covering anything, you might still try flip it to see if anytng is covered, due to the psychological aspect. I guess this would be the case when vieweing comics or pictures, that take up the entire screen.

[DreamWriter]

Well, here's my feedback...

I agree with ProfCrash that the covers would be more appealing without such obvious placement of your logo and company name. Do make sure that the leather around the device isn't too thick or too close to the screen because it's important for the reader to be able to touch all the way to the edge.

Although I love the idea of a credit card holder on the inside of the cover, it isn't very practical because there's a good chance they'd scratch the screen and/or put too much pressure on it when the cover's closed.

The cases are beautiful, and they look very well made. I love the tooling details. I don't know how difficult it would be and how much it may increase price, but personalization options might be nice—the customer's initials, a name, or a limited choice of designs on the spine and/or front, for instance.

I wish you much success!

[Pismire]

Will the front cover be foldable onto the back, particularly without damaging the material? I find that to be an important feature for easy handling - if you can NOT fold the front back, holding the device with your left hand gets hard to impossible.

The pouch on the inside of the cover I find a bit overdone. In my experience, anything inside of the front cover is likely to get in the way of a touch screen (if not set on standby). Also, I think very few people will actually store much inside a kindle cover (mine just holds a note of my address, in case it ever gets lost/stolen). A single (and less noticeable) pouch would probably suffice for most peoples interest.

As mentioned before, I agree material quality will likely be an important feature. Many people complain about "chemical smells" coming from their covers, so it might be a good idea to let the product breath a bit before packing it up, if production processes allow.

Best,
Pismire

[RainingLemur]

I like the way the covers themselves look. They look great.

I agree with the company name being unnecessary, unless it's to illustrate a possible place for customization (like, I could request something being stamped on the side as the "title" of the book).

It's a little busy on the inside for me (the multiple card holders are unnecessary, one would be good enough for gift cards or something). And, I'll also echo a sentiment mentioned already: The leather surrounding the kindle could stand to be trimmed down a bit.

[twowheels]

Overall I like the classic book look.

I agree with a lot of what's been said.

Lose the pouches, trim the screen edges, ensure the front is semi-rigid to protect the screen, ensure that it can be folded back, and maybe a little more subtle on the gold inlay. Personally, I don't mind the company name as it's not obvious that it's not a book title, which adds to the old book impression.

If I had a Kindle with an integrated light, I'd seriously consider this, especially given the price ranges that you've indicated. That said, until I get an integrated light I won't consider any case other than Amazon's as they have the best light solution by far.

[vxf]

I think it looks great. I love the red one especially (I think the gold letters on red look great).

But I would not buy any case without a built-in-light. So I might not be your target customer.

Pricing is tricky. I think you could get to the $40-50 range.

[geoffwood]

I agree with others on the Logo and perhaps toning down some of the gold. The interior packets are not to my taste. I have a wallet for that, I don't need to duplicate that functionality. I can't imagine deciding to go out, then opt to leave my wallet behind and transfer everything to an eReader case.

If you're trying to break into the market, it's easier to get in at the lower end of the price scale and then ratchet the price up as ou see what the market will bear. Remember this is a $70 device, so for me $40 is the upper end of what I'd pay for a case, but then I may not be the target market. Personally I prefer a case that is simple, light and more about function as opposed to style.

[DreamWriter]

Lee, I thought I'd share a leather cover design that I absolutely love. I have the BLUREX Leather Slim Folio case for my Acer Iconia A500 pictured below. What I really like about it is the way it holds the device without obstructing the area near the screen in any way. You can't see them in the photo, but there are tabs at the bottom positioned in the same way as at the top. The tabs are curved and very stiff. They hold the device quite snug. There's a tab that holds the cover closed (probably not necessary), and the cover can be folded completely back.



I don't think you'd need to make it with the inner grooves for propping the device like the Blurex case, but you may be able to adapt your current design to secure the device in a similar fashion. You'd use less leather but may need material (plastic inserts?) to make the tabs very stiff, so I'm not sure how that would affect your production cost. Perhaps you could offer several designs and see which sells better?

I have a cover for my smaller 7" Acer Iconia A100 that's a similar design to the one you show, with leather around the screen like yours, and I don't use it because my finger's always bumping into the leather when I swipe near the edge of the screen.

[pidgeon92]

Originally Posted by vxf

I think it looks great. I love the red one especially (I think the gold letters on red look great).

But I would not buy any case without a built-in-light. So I might not be your target customer.

These are my thoughts as well..... Perhaps if Amazon puts out a Kindle with a built-in light I would consider a case like this, but not until then.

[Jeff L]

Although many books have gold decoration on them, individual books are read only once or a few times. This cover will be handled hundreds or thousands of times. The gold decoration will just rub off.

That is, you need to design with long term use in mind.

In this regard, anything opposite the screen that isn't smooth may scratch it after hundreds or thousands of closures.

Have a care regarding the weight of the cover. Small covers are held in part with the small muscles that work the fingers. So reduce weight whenever possible. For instance, consider what is the minimum amount of material needed to hold the device securely. A small amount of strong material is better than a lot of weaker material.

Make sure all the edges are smooth and/or rounded. Any sharpness or roughness can be discomforting over long periods. Any part that touches the skin should be soft, smooth or rounded.

It isn't clear from your picture how the device is inserted and what's securing it afterwards. Remember that sometimes the device will be used upside down or carried in the hand in any number of orientations while a person is walking.

Did you allow clearance for the speakers?

[geoffwood]

Originally Posted by Jeff L

Did you allow clearance for the speakers?

That's a K4, so no speakers.