Rare skins

Qu Guangci's draft design and "Rabbit Boy" iPhone and iPad cases. Provided to China Daily

Looking for interesting cases for your iPads or iPhones? Two Chinese sculptors dress them with works of art. Gan Tian tells the story behind the designs.

Qu Guangci is already working on ideas for an iPad 2 case, while pondering if he should still create new designs for the iPhone 3G. The successive launches of these must-have Apple products are challenging, but Qu still takes pride in the fact that he is one of the rare people in China creating unique cases for them.

Qu, in his 40s, is one of few Chinese artists who are creating iPhone and iPad cases in China, although there are countless users here.

This is his second job, because Qu and his wife Xiang Jing, both graduates from the Central Academy of Fine Arts, are among China’s top sculptors. 

The couple launched X+Q Sculpture Studio in 2007, and a year ago they decided to bring their talent into industrial design. The first step they took was to create some interesting iPhone and iPad cases.

While many of his friends protect their Apple products with an interesting array of cases, Qu was disappointed to find that few of these designs were locally inspired.

He was impressed by a Paul Frank iPad case, with its bright colors and signature grinning monkey logo, and this inspired him to change the trend.

Qu and his wife named their brand “X+Q”, the two letters representing their surnames, Qu and Xiang. In Chinese, it translates to xiqi, meaning “rare”, which fits in with their vision to create some unique products.

 Since Xiang was busy with her latest exhibition at the time, the daunting task of pioneering the products fell on Qu.

“I am a big Apple fan. Its products are the best combination of beauty and function, and they stay on top of the trends,” Qu says.

His first creation was a “Rabbit Boy” iPhone and iPad case, inspired by his sculpture, I Have Seen Happiness, which features a young girl in a blue dress with long, white bunny ears. She has her face turned skywards, eyes closed, basking in the sun. 

The case is in a deep blue, but it has a cartoon rabbit print on the back, adorned with two long bunny ears. The letters X and Q are incorporated into the design, as part of the branding.

Qu first contacted a US manufacturer, whose factory specialized in making Apple accessories, but he soon met one huge difficulty: It just cost too much.

Each case would cost $20, and since the company only accepted orders of at least 2,000 pieces, Qu would have to cough up $40,000.

When Qu showed the company his dra design, it got interested and offered him a discount. The case became one of the best sellers in the X+Q boutique at Beijing’s luxury Yintai Shopping Mall.

 Qu’s next project was the “Angel” iPhone case, inspired by another sculpture. 

This design had a meditative cherub sitting against a brightly stained background. The second design also confirmed Qu’s idea that these products can be based on or inspired by his existing sculptures.

For Qu, bringing the products another level up will mean cases that are handmade in limited editions, signed off by the artists.

The designs are also going full cycle, with Qu finding inspiration in Apple’s original packaging.

“You can see an iPad’s packaging is clean and simple, without too much fussy decorations. I used that idea and our own products are also simple and clean, with design in the details,” he says.

Now that he is more experienced, Qu is making his designs back in China, in the traditional manufacturing bases in the southern cities.

Qu was re-inspired when a manufacturer told him that he was the factory’s first Chinese client. He has pledged to carry on this business, a new field for him to explore and develop. In designing iPhone and iPad cases, he has found a way to combine art and business