I’m sitting here writing this week’s blog back in the comfort of my home office while Spiderman plays on in the background and my dog snores. Over the last four years, I’ve really made this home office very comfortable and as any of you that follow my posts know, I’ve recently expanded my design company into a downtown office space where clients, consultants and staff have a larger, more professional workspace.
During that transition, my frugal Chief Financial Officer (read: my wife) suggested that I should re-use many of my home office ‘comforts’ (read: desk, computer, flat screen, chair, etc.) in my new office space. As I started to go down that road, I quickly realized that I did not want to dismantle the home office and instead wanted to maintain its integrity, since I planned on working there during the weekends (such as today), during inclement weather, and during late nights. Over the last couple of months, I’ve gotten very fond of working from the downtown space because I get to ‘get out of the house’. It’s also much better than my last office at Regus, because I don’t have to pack up at the end of the day. After several trips to Ikea and a few strategically placed wall mounts, bookshelves, and a Glen Gary Glennross poster, both the home office and the downtown office have become very conducive to creativity while remaining ‘cozy’ (read: cluttered), but in an organized clutter kind of way.
The iLugger to the Rescue
For the last 12 months, my creative team and I’ve been working at the Regus Business Center several days a week and during that time I had to invest in what has become one of the most integral tools of the trade: my iLugger iMac carrying case. This oversize padded behemoth on wheels allows me to transport my prized 27” iMac with ease, and look cool while I’m doing it. The deal with any pre-furnished office space or shared workspace is that you basically pack up your studio and move into your office suite on a daily basis, meaning that at the end of the day, you pack up what you brought in and take it back home. The Problem is that I prefer to work on my iMac over my MacBook pro any day. Once you get used to all that visual real estate, its hard to go back to anything smaller. So how do I LUG (get it) back and forth on the days I need to go the office?
This is where this blog becomes a commercial for the iLugger. I just really love this thing. I had to figure out a way to conveniently bring both my 27” iMac and my 21.5” iMac back and forth from the Regus center and doing it with the original packaging wasn’t cutting it. At first, I would literally re-pack my Macs in their original boxes and tape them shut, using the plastic handle and making it a carrying case. As the boxes starting falling apart, I realized I need a solution and iLugger is one of the only players in the game. Not for the financially faint of heart, these pricey ($199-$650), rugged, sleek looking bags are the bomb. These bad boys come in different colors (I prefer the standard black) and are a breeze to use.
Here’s the model I use for my 27” iMac:
https://www.ilugger.com/product/detail.cfm?nid=1460&pid=40029
…and I picked up the over-the-shoulder carry-on style for my 21.5” iMac:
https://www.ilugger.com/product/detail.cfm?nid=1460&pid=15896
For those that travel by plane often, they do have some hardcore AirCases.
https://www.ilugger.com/product/catalog.cfm?nid=104165
Take a look at their Youtube video and watch how easy this thing is to load up:
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AF_l7mLLXWs?fs=1&feature=oembed]
I’m telling you this thing is sweet. Literally takes 5 minutes to pack up and go. Your iMac is totally protected (being upside down doesn’t hurt it) and you can look like you’re just carrying a gigantic laptop or about to travel somewhere. If you are looking for a way to make your iMac portable – look no further! This is it.
Yesterday was The Avengers movie premiere and my wife and I decided to catch an early (3:50PM) matinee. No sooner did I sit down to catch the new Spiderman trailer did my phone ring: a client, of course. I texted them back expecting some sort of an emergency, I mean its 4pm on a Friday when I would normally be on the golf course anyway, so this must be serious. Apparently there was a banner ad I had just created that needed to be resized, and in my haste, didn’t provide a layered PSD along with it. For the next two hours, the ad would appear ‘squished’ until I could provide new creative. Not the most urgent of projects, but something that I needed to take care of. I intended on going back to the office right after the movie to finish up some work, write this blog, and now I had no choice but to go in and resize this ad banner. By the time the movie was over and we grabbed dinner, it was after 8pm. My wife asked me, “Can’t you just work from home?” and I replied “No, my Macs are downtown…” (For a second, I’d forgotten all about the iLugger since I no longer needed to LUG it home each day.) So we parted ways in the parking lot (we drove separate cars) and I sped off to save the day (not really). Driving away in silence, it dawned on me that going to the office now to work late into the night didn’t seem like such a good move at this point. Then it hit me, I had an iLugger! I thought to myself, “Bring the iMac back and do what you need to do from the comfort of the home office (and in the comfort of your pajamas)!”
I texted the wife of my Eureka moment and her reply was, “Good idea.”
I get those every once in awhile.
RESOURCES:
Ramon has over 19 years of experience in award-winning, market-proven, print collateral, marketing material, iphone/ipad app and website design specializing in corporate identity and branding. Ramon’s passion for entrepreneurial design was borne out of 10 years as Creative Director for Jay Walker at Walker Digital, the Stamford based idea laboratory and business incubator holding over 300 US Patents. Ramon served as Senior Art Director on the start-up launch team behind Priceline.com, a Walker company and invention. Most recently, Ramon’s logo and identity work was selected to be published in “Typography and Enclosures” the fourth book in the Master Library series by LogoLounge.
Need help with your brand identity or want to overhaul your existing brand? Contact:ramon@peraltadesign.com
Follow Ramon on Twitter @Peralta_Design