Do you remember when your significant other would carve your names into a tree trunk with a heart around them? Yeah, me either. My generation declares relationships through Facebook statuses (“Maya Hauer is now in a relationship with _____.”), Instagram photos (the “Earlybird” filter is especially dreamy) and tweets (#dating). And as fun and “romantic” as all of these forms of expression are, the old may be better than the new.
Enter designer Joy Merryman. Joy has captured the romantic sentiment of the tree trunk gesture in a smartphone case by designing two cases that fit together to display two names in a heart (his & hers, hers & hers, his & his – you get the idea). When the cases are side by side the message is clear: we are forever! When separated, the message is equally as clear: I’m taken, back off.
Image source Etsy
The 16-year-old girl in me loves this idea – it delicately toes the line between cute and lame. It’s a roaming Facebook relationship status; a permanent Instagram filter; a tweet in less than 140 characters. A creative way to say “hey, I’ve found my person!” But my 24-year-old self (who appreciates subtly) thinks it may be a little bit much. Does everyone need to know you’re in a relationship when they see you pull out your iPhone? What if you break up? Is there a return policy? (One would hope so given the divorce rate these days!) Or does the case get added to the growing box of things collecting dust that remind you of relationships past? From romantic to tragic in a moment.
So what do you think? Would you and your significant other buy these cases or would you steer clear like Walmart on the day after Thanksgiving? Me, I’d take my leopard print case any day of the week.
Posted by Maya
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