3 Main Reasons Why Marble Designs For Smartphones Are So Desirable Right Now

Photo Credit: Thomas Claveirole via Compfight cc

Marble has been popularly used in construction for years. The material’s name was derived from the Greek word ‘marmaros’ that can be translated to “a snow white and spotless stone,” even though marble comes in various colors.

However, marble is now being used for smartphones. Yes, the trend in marble design is predicted to take off this year, as even the fashion industry has been featuring styles based on the aesthetically beautiful stone. In this post, we will highlight why marble designs for smartphones are utterly irresistible.

Quick preview of how we perform our finishing touches on the iPhone 6s cases.  Performed by our shop master Leo.  It's all in the details.  Cut to 0.8mm thickness and then polished, hand sanded fitted to perfection.

World's First iPhone 6s Gemstone Case Collection

So being cute, attractive, charming and intelligent definitely helps being more likeable, but definitely not the most important features.  

1.  Appearance

Yes, it does matter, but not in a superficial way.  Be clean, well groomed, easy on the eye as our first impression of people is alway appearance.   And most of us make the initial judgement based on how others appear since communication comes second.  Being hygienic, well groomed also helps with personal confidence that can't be felt by others.  You often hear "it's the way he/she carries herself".  The outside appearance of yourself affects the psychology of your brain which shows emotionally on your face through micro-expressions that others are able to pick up on.

2.  Smile

Most likeable people are happy, energetic and therefore always have a nice smile on them. People generally feed off each other's "energy".  When we see someone happy and smiling, it's hard to be that angry or sad person and ruin another person's smile.  We may initially go with it and overtime we slowly are infected by this "happiness"

3.  Focus 

With smartphones around these days, everyone is on their iphones. We all know to put our iphone or ipad away, but when that text comes in, it's so hard to fight it.  Likeable people respect the time spent with others and focus, pay attention to the physical company.  Put your iphones away!! Immerse yourself into the conversation and not be interrupted by your friend asking you what are you doing.

4. Ask questions

Often times, we are too busy and eager to talk about ourselves or what we are interested, we forget what others want.  Ask lots of questions!  People love to talk and talk about themselves! The more you ask the more they talk, the faster time flies for them!  

5. Being Genuine

We all dislike fake people very much and it's very easy to spot someone feigning their interest.  Likeable people are confident.  They can tell you what they like and what they don't, if they agree with you or not.  You become more interesting by having an opinion, rather pretend to follow the other person's interest.

6.  Be Open Minded

Be open to other's opinion and thoughts.  No one likes to be around someone who has pre-determined judgements already.  Listen, analyze and provide your opinion if you disagree.  Don't disagree for the sake of disagreeing.

7. Don't Try Too Hard

People are very averse to those that are desperate for attention.  Don't seem desperate, don't try too hard.  Be natural, go with the flow, just be friendly and slowly others will be drawn to you. And be humble! 

8. Be consistent

You don't have to be an open book, but be a person others can rely on.

9.  Remember someone's name

We all love hearing our own names for some reason.  Not only remember the person's name, but greet them with their name.  

10.  Body Language

As mentioned earlier, be confident and expressive.  But also be polite, don't turn your body away from someone when you are speaking with them.  In sales, we always talk about the mirroring effect.  People want to feel connect, similarities, so positioning your body similar to the other person subconsciously creates a bond.

11.  Know when to open up

Don't be too closed off. Find the right time to open up with another and share something intimate.  We all want to feel trustworthy and by sharing something important, you are conveying that you can trust this other person.  This also shows you are genuine.

12.  The art of touching

This is a very fine line and be careful not to overdo this part.  If you touch another person too much, it will make them very uncomfortable.  If you are able to build up enough rapport, there is that fine moment to simple pat the other person on the shoulder, shake his hand, give them a hug.  When you connect with someone during a conversation, they release a chemical neurotransmitter in their brain called oxytocin that associates them with trust and other positive feelings.  Again, done improperly can have a negative effect.

13.  Balance

Above all, likeable people know how to balance everything we spoke about and incorporate fun, passion and work together effortlessly.  It's not they are more capable, they just know how to present themselves which in the end makes them happier people as well.

 For grooming items you can refer to our other blog of attention grabber accessories: 

http://www.mikolmarmi.com/blogs/news/81088833-mikol-christmas-gifting-with-hidden-products-revealed

Christmas has arrived! It's definitely our favorite holiday!

The team at MIKOL would like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!!

There are numerous gifts out there that are terrific to share.  However, we are going to be a little selfish and only introduce our product selection along with some hidden items that are not yet revealed.  So if you finish this article and love our new products, please do email us for not only the early bird special, but early bird delivery!  Shhhhh!!! Our little secret!

We don't plan to launch these items till after the New Year!  Also keep in mind our engraving option for only an additional $25.00.  

By now, we all know since marble is a natural product, therefore no two product designs will ever be exactly the same!  With your personalized engraving, that just makes your product that much more unique and exclusive!

Here we go!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

1. World's First Amethyst iPhone 6/6s & 6/6s plus case 

Preview function is disabled on our blog, but you can still view the article on:

http://www.mydomaine.com/design-obsessed-celebrities/slide9

Find out which celebrities you love are designers!!

Each has a style of their own! 

We are delighted to be featured again by Selectism's Highsnobiety with our first real Amethyst iphone 6s case by MIKOL. 

Let’s really talk about marble

Everybody has been loving the pink iPhone 6s that came out!  

But what is even cooler now, is that we don't have to panic as much when our iPhones fall into the toilet or bathtub anymore since Apple has decided to waterproof the phones!  

There now exist multiple videos that show Apple’s new smartphones surviving extended periods of water submersion. Those videos aren’t fabrications or pranks. Apple’s new iPhones really do hold up under water, thanks to a brilliant new technique that the company quietly pioneered as usual.

That’s not to say that you should go tossing your $650+ smartphone in the toilet on purpose. Or take a dip in the pool with your phone like our friend Victor.  

As with all smartphones claiming impermeability, the new iPhones are water-resistant, but not fully waterproof. If you do have an accident, there is a better chance at survival than the previous generations of iPhones.  The best part about Apple’s ingenious water-safe solution is that it doesn’t affect the phone’s appearance, performance, or repairability in any significant way.

Wondering if the Mikol marble iPhone cases for 6 and 6 plus fit the iPhone 6s and 6s plus?

YES THEY DO!!!!! 

Before the launch of the Apple iWatch, Apple has been recruiting fashion and luxury hires.  Quite an interesting article from Business of Fashion.

SAN FRANCISCO, California — Apple and it's famous founder has pride itself as the design/fashion in technology.  And has certainly applied the rules of fashion to their design and marketing of its popular iPod, iPhone iPad, macbook and other insanely beautiful products.  The desire is not only functionality but sleek simple and modern aesthetics that create value.  This is what differentiates Apple users from other companies such as Microsoft, HP, Dell, Sony and why people say there is a cult following. The past few years, Apple has embraced fashion more overtly, making a slew of major hires from the fashion and luxury sector, including top executives like Paul Deneve, former CEO of Yves Saint Laurent, and Angela Ahrendts, former CEO of Burberry.

One of the primary reasons behind it is the famous launch of the Apple’s iWatch.  It's the entry way of the company's into the fashion world with wearable technology.  Along so, other companies has followed Apple's lead as it sees the future of fashion and technology fusing.  Indeed, many of Apple’s fashion and luxury hires, including Paul Deneve and Patrick Pruniaux, former vice president of global sales and retail at Tag Heuer, are known to be working on Watch, which Apple is marketing as a luxury fashion accessory.

In February, it was revealed that Apple design chief Jony Ive was working closely with Angela Ahrendts, now the company’s senior vice president of retail and online sales, to revamp Apple’s retail stores in order to make them better suited to selling Watch. But the poaching of fashion and luxury executives like Ahrendts is about much more than one device. Indeed, at Burberry, Ahrendts oversaw the creation of highly sophisticated store design that is one of the world’s leading examples of tech-infused ‘retail entertainment’ and omni-channel innovation, two pillars of a next generation customer experience. Ahrendts also brings to the table her knowledge of China, where Burberry has a formidable store network and Apple has big plans for retail expansion."

Question is what kind of company does Apple want to be? From its original Apple Computer 1 to its new Watch, Apple has long sold consumer technology. But to call Apple a consumer technology company is to miss the magic of what has become the world’s largest corporation.

“The truth is that Apple doesn’t sell phones (or computers or tablets); they sell iPhones,” wrote Ben Thompson, a blog on technology and business. “iPhones are not just hardware, but also the software that runs on them. But even that is missing the whole picture.

Steve Jobs has mentioned several times that it's not about the product, but about the experience, the user experience.  Buying an iPhone, iPad, Macbook is an experience.  From advertising, to visiting to the store, to purchasing a phone, to unboxing, to downloading apps, to sharing the news with friends.  

You can see thousands of posts on youtbue of Apple customers unboxing their new iPhone and what each layer has for them.

To increase this, Apple has set path in finding the right executives from fashion and luxury brands to further their experience for customers.  A true transformation from a tech company to a lifestyle brand experience.

Some top fashion executivies include:

Angela Ahrendts, SVP of Retail and Online Sales
Angela Ahrendts came to Apple from Burberry, where, as chief executive, she partnered with creative director Christopher Bailey to drive the brand’s impressive reinvention, turning the staid British heritage label into a global fashion powerhouse and, in the process, tripling the company’s revenues. Ahrendts was closely involved in developing Burberry’s next generation retail strategy and joins Apple as head of retail and online sales, where she has been working to revamp the company’s in-store experience and better integrate online and offline channels. At Burberry, Ahrendts also oversaw the brand’s retail expansion into China, where Apple has plans to grow a network of 30 to 40 stores.

Paul Deneve, VP of Special Projects
As one of the world’s rare business leaders with extensive experience in both fashion and technology, Paul Deneve is a unique asset for Apple. Deneve held sales and marketing roles at Apple in Europe before managing a number of luxury fashion companies — including Lanvin, Courrèges, Nina Ricci and, most recently, Yves Saint Laurent — and his return to Apple, in 2013, completes his circuit from tech to fashion to tech. Deneve is currently vice president of “special projects,” which is widely understood to encompass Apple’s Watch.

Marc Newson, SVP of Design
British designer Marc Newson is one half of the two-man senior design team behind Apple Watch, along with his good friend, Apple’s chief design officer Jony Ive. In fact, it was Ive who brought on Newson as senior vice president of design after the pair collaborated on a customised Jaeger-LeCoultre Memovox watch in 2013. Although the appointment was not announced until September 2014 — when Apple’s Watch was revealed to the public — Newson had already been working with Ive on the design of the company’s first wearable device for some time. Newson’s design career has seen him collaborate with luxury fashion brands like Hermès, Louis Vuitton. In the 1990s, he also founded a Swiss wristwatch company called Ikepod, a venture that helped Ive conclude that Newson was the best choice to help him design Apple’s Watch.

Patrick Pruniaux, Senior Director of Special Projects
Appointed senior director of “special projects” in August 2014, Patrick Pruniaux is a veteran of the luxury watch industry who spent five years as vice president of global sales and retail at Tag Heuer, the LVMH-owned mid-range Swiss luxury watchmaker. A long-time watch industry insider, Pruniaux’s understanding of the market has helped Apple navigate its entry into this new product category.

Catherine Monier, Special Projects
Catherine Monier was hired to Apple’s “special projects” team in the summer of 2014 to help develop sales strategy for the company’s Watch. Like Deneve, Monier was previously at Yves Saint Laurent, where she was European president and global wholesale director. Before that, Monier was wholesale director at Céline and, previously, wholesale director of women’s at Lanvin.

Marcela Aguilar, Global Director of Marketing Communications
An ad agency veteran and former senior global marketing and communications director at Gap, Aguilar joined Apple in September 2014 to direct the company’s marketing and communications. Aguilar has been credited with helping to reverse Gap’s sales slump in the early 2010s and has global experience in China, India and Brazil. Since Aguilar’s arrival, Apple’s marketing has shifted towards more lifestyle-oriented campaigns.

Anita Borzyszkowska, Consultant
Anita Borzyszkowska is a consultant helping to position Apple’s Watch as a genuine luxury accessory and win the support of the fashion industry. A heavyweight PR and brand strategist, Borzyszkowska was previously head of Gap’s global public relations and has brought to Apple her network of deep industry relationships. Borzyszkowska was responsible for enticing top fashion journalists and other industry insiders to participate in the launch of Watch, which has appeared  on the cover of Vogue China.

Musa Tariq, Digital Marketing Director, Retail
Arriving at Apple in August 2014, Musa Tariq is the company’s digital marketing director for retail. Like Ahrendts, with whom he enjoys a close professional relationship, Tariq also came from Burberry, where he was global director of social media — developing initiatives like the company’s ‘Tweetwalk’ campaign and running the brand’s expansion on social platforms in China — before shifting, in 2012, to Nike, where he was global senior director of social media and community. His appointment at Apple marks a U-turn in the company’s approach to social media marketing, which has historically been muted.

Chester Chipperfield, Special Projects
Another employee to defect to Apple from Burberry, Chester Chipperfield joined the company’s “special projects” team in January 2015. At Burberry, Chipperfield was vice president of digital and interactive design, a post he held from 2011. Working closely with Ahrendts, Chipperfield was one of the key figures behind the redesign of Burberry’s e-commerce presence and brings his experience to Apple’s digital retail strategy for the company’s Watch.

Jacob Jordan, Director of Product Merchandising
Jordan joined Apple’s “special projects” team as director of product merchandising in October 2014. He has a strong background in luxury merchandising, having come to Apple from Louis Vuitton, where he was director of men’s ready-to-wear for two and a half years. Prior to that, Jordan was vice president of menswear at Theory. He brings his understanding of fashion merchandising to Apple, as the company adapts to selling a wearable accessory for the first time.

Lance Lin, Senior Public Relations Manager
Lance Lin was hired as Apple’s senior public relations manager in January 2015. A former fashion editor at GQ magazine, who became director of PR at Gilt Group, Lin is familiar with the terrain of the fashion industry and brings to Apple a vital collection of industry contacts. He has played an important part in helping to position Apple’s Watch as a luxury fashion accessory.

With all these heavy hitters from the fashion world joining Apple's team, can Apple really turn itself into a tech fashion empire?

Aside from the iWatch, Apple also carries many accessories to add on its beautiful products.  The Apple leather iphone 6 case has been quite a sale as well.  Will they incorporate more materials? Wood, more leather, marble into their fashion equation?  

Since Apple is notoriously secretive with their products, maybe we will just have to patiently wait.