In Jon Lucca’s World, iPhone Cases as Art

You like your iPhone case. It’s functional. It’s durable. It’s light and it looks pretty good. Right?

But unless you’ve picked up an iPhone sleeve from Twig Case Co. in Waseca, Minn., your case is probably not a work of art.

Twig Case Co. launched in October 2011 after longtime friends John Woodland and Jon Lucca put their heads together to come up with an idea for a better iPhone case.

The inspiration came after every wood or bamboo case they purchased fell apart. They figured there had to be a better solution for an attractive iPhone case.

With Lucca’s background in graphic design and Woodland’s experience in guitar construction and design, the two tapped into their knowledge and resources to create a case made from the same techniques that go into making Woodland’s guitars.

The cases are made from ebony-like FSC Certified paper composite called Richlite that Woodland uses in making his guitar fingerboards and bridge. Each iPhone case equals about 100 sheets of stacked paper. There is also a thin bamboo veneer that is fused to the case at the factory, making the cases strong and resilient.

We had the chance to talk with Jon Lucca, co-owner of the Twig Case about his role in creating the iPhone case designs and running the company.

Lucca started making iPhone case designs by running a variety of test images. Lucca hints that some of these designs may re-surface in the future.

“The Bunker” was one of the first iPhone designs Lucca created. Lucca explains, “That [design] was crazy huge and detailed and easily the most time I’ve spent on an art piece without knowing what it would be. It took several weeks above eight-hour work days to complete that design.”

With “The Bunker,” Lucca was inspired by his response to stories about the apocalypse. He also gets inspiration for his cases from everyday life. “I’m always looking at things. Now I look at everything with an invisible Twig case frame over it.”

Since starting the Twig Case Co. in 2011, the business has been booming. Lucca explains, “One big surprise is that it’s taken off so much.”

Celebrities including Jeff Tweedy of Wilco and musician Norah Jones use Twig’s iPhone cases. With original artwork on the case and durability to boot, it’s no surprise that many happy customers love Twig cases.

Out of all the successes that Lucca and Woodland have had with Twig Case, they want to be known for producing quality cases.

“Primarily I want to make a good, durable case and I want it to look cool afterward,” Lucca said. “I’ve taken great pains in finding art that’s not quite like anything else out there.”

With each case being artistic, durable and made in Minnesota, we assure you, there is nothing else out there like a Twig iPhone case. Visit the Twig Case Company’s website and find out more.