With the proliferation of iPods, we enjoy carrying our music, videos and photos that express our tastes. What?s lacking from the run of the mill white and black Apple iPod casings are designs that say, ?this is me!?
Kiwali – pronounced Kee-Wah-Lee (the forgotten Hawaiian goddess of creativity and good design) is a company producing a line of unique skins for the iPod line.
I received a set of the latest designs made expressly for the video iPod for review.
?The Kiwali Deco for 5G iPods is a premium adhesive cover for the video iPods. The collection is the third in our Deco series and feature 8 unique trademark Kiwali designs. The Kiwali Deco will turn any video iPod into a work of art. It offers limited scratch protection, too. The repositionable adhesive is strong enough for secure positioning but comes off cleanly and easily.
What?s cool about these skins is the high quality printing on premium Naster polypropylene. The designs (front and back) have metallic accents versus the ?flat? or ?high gloss? skins that I?ve seen; while they look good, the metallic ink that Kiwali uses gives the iPod skins a nice visual pop.
One of the concerns that my daughter had when applying these skins is the possible adhesive residue left behind from the application. She?ll be happy to note that there were none to speak of. The adhesive backing is repositionable, however it takes a steady hand to line up the click wheel outline with the screen. When all is said and done, the fit is spot on. For perfectionists like me, there is just a hairline gap at the top of the screen that is not noticeable for most eyes (until now?).
The skin is easy to apply, however I recommend using the backing sheet to guide the placement of the skin.
Once the skin is applied, the die cut edges are crisp and over time, have not puckered or lifted up as decals tend to do. Also I found there was no adhesive leakage from the edges.
Kiwali says that there is a 1 mm invisible protective coating that insures inks will not bleed or smudge. The finished product feels great on the fingers like a clear coat custom paint job on the iPod.
Keep in mind that the skin ONLY offers scratch resistance on the front casing and metal back only. There is no clear plastic covering for the screen or click wheel. I just figure a case is designed for that level of protection desired. In my mind, I see the skins as custom “paint job” for the iPod!
If you want to change out the skin, it?s easy to do by using a X-Acto knife or razor blade to lift the corner edge and peel back. Just save the paper backing for future use.
I like the cool designs; Kiwali also offers masculine designs with a jazzy vibe not only for the newer video iPods, but the Nano and the old Shuffle models.
Available directly from Kiwali.com
MSRP: The skins pictured are $10.95 list, currently on sale for $7.95 each
There is an eight pack for $87.60 list, currently on sale for $24.95
What I Like: High quality printing and repositionable adhesive.
What Needs Improvement: None