Griffin Technology + Threadless: Crowdsourced iPhone case design

In conversation with an iPhone case manufacture recently, I discussed the ubiquity of iPhone 4s and how the designs that we were seeing in Latest Gadget HQ were more and more resembling “cool T-shirt design”. A prime example of this of course, is Griffin Technology’s partnership with Threadless (the epitome of “cool T-Shirt” design) on two new limited edition iPhone 4 cases.

As usual, the designs were created via the Threadless crowdsourcing system, which is like a reality TV show for T-Shirts (which when compared with say “Celebrity Wife Swap” or “Can Fat Teens Hunt?” doesn’t sound that ridiculous). Artists upload their designs to the website and its team of loyal fans then vote for their favourite creations. Popular designs are made into tee shirts, available to buy on the site and the best-loved are selected by Griffin and Threadless to be made into a super slim iPhone 4 cases, which is like winning the T-Shirt Oscars.

The Swan Song and Snowfall cases snap around your iPhone to provide protection from scratches, dust, and drabness, adding less than 1 millimeter of thickness without blocking the dock connector, controls, or headphone jack. I’ve seen far more than my fair share of iPhone cases and these are wonderfully thin, with a great feel to them. The tight fit is a little tight however, which makes snapping the cases on and off repeatedly a bit of a challenge. Normally people aren’t repeatedly swapping iPhone 4 cases so this isn’t a big deal.

Swan Song was submitted by well established Threadless designer, Ross Zietz. He has been a member of the online community for 5 years and has had over 800 designs made into tee-shirts. Snowfall was submitted by Cory Remjeske, a 26 year old with 18 Threadless creations to his name.

With the iPhone 5’s form factor and launch date a guessing game, it’s hard to tell how long these cases will be around for. But until that fateful day, the Snowfall and Swan Song are priced at £24.99 each and are both available from Apple stores nationwide and online.