Twelve South

It’s always a pleasure to read anything in The Washington Post lately that *isn’t* about the debt ceiling. So it was indeed a thrill to open up the WP Magazine this weekend (which locals receive on Saturday, but which appears to the rest of the nation on Sunday) to see that this week’s Trend Report featured none other than our BookBook.

Holly E. Thomas, arbiter of uniquely good taste that she is, chose BookBook among five great things she’s come across lately…and we’re honored! Here’s what she had to say:

“Camouflage your shiny new MacBook Pro, iPad or MacBook Air in something decidedly old-school with the BookBook from Twelve South. The hardback leather cases are designed to look like antique tomes, blending in on a coffee table or bookshelf, while keeping your tech treasures safe. $69.99-$99.99 at Anthropologie (5402C Wisconsin Ave., Chevy Chase, 301-652-1056) and www.twelvesouth.com.”

It’s true, people — our BookBook is indeed for sale at Washington’s Anthropologie. If that’s not power to the people, we don’t know what is! Get your own BookBook here, for iPad/iPad 2, MacBook Pro, MacBook Air…or of course, for your iPhone (new!).

Seems like it was only yesterday that kids across the country were taking their final exams and getting ready for that coveted summer break from school. But with the new school year now only a month away, CBS Los Angeles has chosen its favorite products to add to those back-to-school shopping lists that will make sure the kids have the latest and greatest gear on their first day back. Among this years “Coolest Back-to-School Gear” is our very own BookBook for iPad 2!

In their words:
Are you nostalgic for the days when kids carried actual paper books? Design company Twelve South can help you with that. Their BookBook handmade leather cases are designed to protect iPads from the clumsiest of children, yet they look like a beautifully bound book.

Make the move to the latest in tech while holding on the “nostalgia” of paper books by picking up a BookBook for iPad, MacBook or MacBook Air at twelvesouth.com.

Customized BookBooks are quickly becoming a popular option for many Twelve South fans inspired by our vintage cases for MacBooks and iPads. We’ve seen BookBooks re-imagined into classic stories like Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales, but fan and BookBook owner Dave Ousley had an idea for his own inspired novel.

In his words:

“I used a local company called San Diego Bookbinding. It was a really nice guy that works out of his garage and only charged $25. Thank you for providing the correct font (which is Times New Roman, in case you’re wondering) and here is the result:

The first line was intentionally left distressed. I used my name as the author and my birth year as the publish date. I’m very happy with the result.

Thanks for a really cool iPad case!”

Thanks for reaching out, Dave. Great attention to detail for wanting your cover to match the original “BookBook” lettering on the spine! Looks very cool.

Want your own original BookBook? Order one for your MacBook, MacBook Air or iPad today at twelvesouth.com.

It’s always a great pleasure to be noticed. But to be noticed by people one suspects are “professional noticers?” Well, that’s another thing entirely. When the designers behind Modern Ink magazine reached out and told us about their new design magazine, we had to wonder if there was room in the world for another.

But then we feasted — and that’s the right word — our eyes on this wonder of a new magazine, and we have to admit: We’re hooked. Here’s a peek at the page which features our BookBook — and as fans of white space, we appreciate the “visual pause” it allows the eye to take it all in.

May we suggest you become a regular reader of Modern Ink, on your iPad or iPad 2, in a BookBook? (Some might say the practice has been endorsed by professional noticers the world over.) And congrats to the Modern Ink team — well done on the first issue. Onward and upward!

BookBook is here. And Modern Ink is here.

Departures, the gorgeous magazine published by American Express for its Platinum and Centurion members (read: very best customers), now has a hip online featured called “Departures Dispatch: 5 Essential Things to Know This Week.” One of those 5 things is called Whim, and last week our BookBook was the Whim of the Week.

Yes, that’s us right there, and here’s what they had to say:

“Despite the many delights afforded us by portable computers, no one takes pleasure in lugging a laptop from place to place in a purse or a briefcase. Twelve South, a design firm that caters exclusively to Mac users, is out to change that, adding a little whimsy to an arduous task. The BookBook, one of 12 Twelve South accessories designed for Apple products each year, is a carrying case that disguises laptop computers as vintage books. The case features two leather hardback covers that are distressed by hand, lined with velvet and bound by a sturdy, weathered spine. When zipped shut and tucked in a purse, it looks like a tome plucked from the darkest corners of the library, stealthily misdirecting potential thieves and lending a literary air to even the most plugged-in tech lover.”

That’s what the people at Departures have to say…we say don’t leave home without it. Get your own BookBook here — for iPad and iPad 2, for MacBook Pro, and of course, for MacBook Air!

It’s always so neat for us to see our own Twelve South products featured in international publications. Today’s highlight was this feature in “Escape 360,” which is Scandinavia’s leading travel magazine. Of course, our ability to translate Finnish at the present time is limited to use at IKEA stores (and that’s not so much translation as appreciation for all the cool things they come up with), so we can only hope the BookBook article is positive! (We have a good feeling about it.)

This is definitely a magazine we’ll be picking up next time we’re overseas, if only to look at the pictures — the photography is gorgeous!

Like what you see? Get your own BookBook now — for iPad and iPad 2, for MacBook Pro, or for MacBook Air. Many volumes available now!

MSN’s Glo was early to the gate in discovering our BookBook, and we were happy they featured it again in their round-up of all things “O” — as in, All Things Oprah.

That is mighty nice of you guys. We’re just happy to be able to keep introducing new iterations of BookBook by popular request — like our re-imagined BookBook for MacBook Air.

Get the O Favorite — BookBook for iPad and iPad 2 here.

And if you’re in an Air, make sure to get a new BookBook for MacBook Air here. (Did we  happen to mention that in addition to being available at the Apple Store online, it’s now also available at TwelveSouth.com?)

Both ship free in the US for a limited time. Act fast.

We recently received this eMail from a customer and had to share it with you. It “literally” made our day!

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Hello Twelve South,

I just wanted to offer this quick note of thanks for your awesome products.

I have had a lifelong love for the look, feel, esthetics (and yes, even the smells) of a well-worn antique book. When I discovered your BookBook cases, I felt almost as if it was a product custom made for me.

I recently purchased an iPad 2 as an accessory for a BookBook iPad case. (Yes, I wanted the BookBook case BEFORE I ever wanted an iPad, and finally getting the iPad gave me the perfect excuse to order a BookBook case. In fact, I placed the order for the BookBook first.) I received the BookBook recently, and I love it.

Is it a convincing disguise for a legitimate classic book?  Let me offer you the following:

I took my daughter to our weekly visit to the library the other day, and approached the counter to pay an overdue fine. I laid my iPad (in its BookBook case) onto the counter so that I could get my wallet from my pocket, but I kept the BookBook on the very edge of my side of the counter so as not to appear to present it  to the librarian.  But before I knew it, she had already reached all the way across the counter, grabbed my BookBook and started to go through the motions of the check-out process. I was caught off-guard and didn’t know what to say in order to alert her to the fact that it was not a real book, but I couldn’t get a word out before the mild shock set it on her face. It was unzipped at the moment, so she flipped open the front cover, and sat there, mouth hanging open, and confused. She slowly closed the cover, turned it sideways to look at the spine, and then opened it again. By that time, I was able to explain to her that it was an iPad in a special case designed to look like a book.

She called an associate over to the counter, and they both marveled at the case. (their attention to the iPad was insignificant – they were taken by the BookBook.) Considering that each of them handles probably several hundred books each day, I found this experience to be a very validating commentary on the convincing design of the BookBook, and genuine quality craftsmanship of your products.

Keep up the great work, and thanks for a great product.

-Best regards, Jon

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Thanks, Jon. Book lovers like you are why BookBook exists! Love books? Get a BookBook for your iPad or iPad 2.

Joshua Siegel, editor over at the Showt, was kind enough to give us a heads up about their review of our BookBook. They’re clever writers over there at the Showt (and we love clever writers just about more than anything, it seems), so we thought we’d share what they had to say:

“The other day someone in the Virgin lounge at JFK stopped to ask us if we had purchased our reading selection at Bauman Rare Books and whether we prefer French first editions or British.

We chuckled and told them we were actually looking at freshly released photos of ourself on www.guestofaguest.com and that the livre was actually a BookBook, the latest iPad cover from Twelve South. The BookBook, which masks your iPad to look like a rare antique book, comes in two equally authentic styles and serves as both a practical iPad case and a stylish accessory for those looking for something more subtle than the sleeve-style offerings from Gucci and Goyard.

And for the record, we prefer French first editions—with their frilly filagree and delightful drawings—over those stoic English storybooks.”

Mmm…more subtle than Gucci or Goyard. Nicely worded. We’d expect nothing less when a BookBook is involved. Get yours here for your original iPad OR your iPad 2, and be sure and join the conversation at the Showt here, you sophisticate, you.