Give your gadget some “skin”
Want to dress up your cellphone, BlackBerry, iPod, GameBoy or laptop with a cool picture or design? SkinIt Inc. of Golden allows you to stick a vinyl pattern, or “skin,” on your tech gear to customize it. Choose from 1,500 ready- made designs or submit your own photo, and SkinIt will ship it to you in three to four days.
Skins start at $9.95 for cellphones and go up to $19.95 for laptops and game consoles such as Sony PlayStation and Xbox. The price includes shipping. For an additional $4.95, customers can also submit a photo via the SkinIt website, www.skinit.com, and a team of graphic designers will custom-produce a skin for you.
“It’s about making each and every individual phone unique to the user,” said company co-founder Tom Stemple.
The skin is actually a durable vinyl application customers place over their phones or other devices. Stemple said the covers don’t leave air bubbles when applied or leave a sticky residue when peeled off.
Each skin is custom-made at the Golden office when an order is placed. SkinIt was founded nearly a year ago by Stemple and his two brothers, Chris and Mike, who ran a ring-tones company. They sold the company and decided to focus on personalizing the outside of cellphones.
To date, SkinIt has sold more than 1 million skins, with the average customer purchasing a new one every 60 days. “They may be in a pink-feather mood this week but a military-camo look next week,” Tom Stemple said.
In November, the company will offer free skins for the backs of military dog tags. Servicemen and servicewomen or their families can send in a photo, and SkinIt will design and ship the skin free of charge.
