Jeremy Kerbs

Product systemsCase study

Cradl Case

Dual-density iPhone and iPad cases for a first-time founder team, with sides that drop away so edge swipes still work. Designed in under a year for a CES launch; the drop-down sides became six US utility patents that name me as an inventor.

Render of a purple Cradl iPhone 6 case with a cut-out bubble pattern on the back and the cradl. logo

At a glance

Problem
A new brand wanted a rugged, stylish case, but a protective raised lip would block the edge swipes newer phones relied on.
My role
Designed the case and its drop-down sides; advised on dual-shot construction; modeled part of the packaging.
Result
Launched at CES in January 2015; six US utility patents name me as an inventor.
Client
cradl.
Role
Design consultant: case design, dual-shot construction advice, and part of the packaging CAD
Timeframe
2014–2015
Team
Founders Elizabeth Dining and Erin Watt (back artwork); Cameron Brown and Zachary Conrad (packaging, manufacturing)
Disciplines
Consumer Goods · Injection Molding
Outcome
6 US utility patents naming me as an inventor; launched at CES 2015
Client
cradl.
Role
Design consultant: case design, dual-shot construction advice, and part of the packaging CAD
Timeframe
2014–2015
More details
Team
Founders Elizabeth Dining and Erin Watt (back artwork); Cameron Brown and Zachary Conrad (packaging, manufacturing)
Disciplines
Consumer Goods · Injection Molding
Outcome
6 US utility patents naming me as an inventor; launched at CES 2015

Context

Cradl is a phone-case company that Elizabeth Dining and her daughter Erin Watt founded in Boulder, Colorado, in 2014. They wanted a case that was both stylish and protective. Their request for proposals arrived in February 2014, and the brand launched at CES in January 2015.

I worked with Cradl as a design consultant, through my studio Droid Replicator, for just under a year. I designed the case, advised on the dual-shot molding and the case’s construction, and did some of the CAD for the packaging. Erin supplied the artwork embossed on the back: the Bubbles, Blocks, and Trees patterns.

Problem

Rugged cases protect the screen with a raised lip around the edge. Newer phones were starting to rely on swiping in from that edge, so the usual answer to protection got in the way of using the phone.

  1. Protection means a lipA raised rim around the screen keeps it off the ground in a drop.
  2. Phones moved to the edgeNewer phones relied on gestures that start at the screen’s edge.
  3. The lip blocks the swipeA raised rim sits exactly where the thumb needs to start.
  4. A case that leaves the edge freeThe sides needed to drop away where the thumb swipes, and still protect.

Constraints

  • Manufacturing cost was the only hard requirement.

  • Drop protection was a goal, but there was no defined target to design to.

  • Combine a rigid inner skeleton with a soft, shock-absorbing outer shell, molded together.

  • Carry the founders’ embossed artwork on the back.
  • Cover more than one device: the iPhone 6 and the iPad Air.

What I did

The key move: sides that drop away. I pointed out that newer phones needed room to swipe from the edge, and that a raised lip would get in the way. So the sides of the case drop down along the screen, which leaves uninterrupted side-to-side swipe access. That feature is what Cradl’s utility patents cover.

Close-up render of the purple case's side: a raised corner, then the side wall dropping lower along the screen, with button cut-outs
The side drops away from the corner, so the thumb can swipe in from the edge.
Exploded CAD view: a yellow rigid skeleton, a black outer shell with the pattern cut-outs, and a gray phone body
The dual-density construction: a rigid inner skeleton (yellow) inside a soft outer shell (black).

Then I designed the rest of the system around it.

  • Advised on the dual-shot molding and part of the case’s construction, so the rigid skeleton and soft shell mold together.

  • Carried Erin’s back artwork into the case as the Bubbles, Blocks, and Trees patterns.
  • Designed versions for the iPhone 6 and the iPad Air.

  • Did some of the CAD for the retail packaging. Cameron Brown and Zachary Conrad handled the packaging and some of the manufacturing coordination.

Sheet of renders of a yellow and gray case from the front, back, sides, and two angles
A views sheet of the case from every side.
Prototype case with the Blocks pattern on a phone lying on a wooden table, with headphones plugged in
A Blocks prototype on a phone.
Prototype case with a dark outer shell and yellow inner skeleton showing through the bubble cut-outs
A two-material prototype: the yellow skeleton shows through the bubble pattern.
White prototype iPad Air case on a desk, with rectangular cut-outs on the back
The iPad Air version in prototype.
Render of the retail package: a white tray with a hang tab and a pink case inside
Packaging CAD, November 2014.

Outcome

Cradl launched at CES on January 6, 2015, and released its iPhone 6/6s line in April 2016 (cradl.). I ended the engagement after the design phase.

6

US utility patents naming me as an inventorGoogle Patents inventor lists: US 9,300,768 (granted 2016) and the continuations that followed it, 9,480,319, 10,327,524, 10,820,675, 11,399,606, and 12,604,956 (granted 2026).

Review

Cradl taught me how to work with first-time founders and manage their expectations. The biggest lesson was to give clients more information up front so they can make their own choices. Tooling costs came as a surprise to the founders, and they had to navigate that sticker shock.

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