As a long-time user of mobile devices with keyboards (Psions, Nokia 9210, etc), my father is a relucant touch-only smartphone user. To help ease the path into the sadly-inevitable world of contemporary devices, I created a minimal felt case for his Nexus 5X that paired it with a little Bluetooth keyboard.

• GitHub

Simple as it is, the case represents quite a few firsts for me—it’s a pivot away from the PsiBoard which ended up taking altogether too long to design and make, and perhaps one of the first physical objects I’ve designed to a tight schedule. The laser-cut felt cover is the only custom part, with the phone shell case and keyboard both coming from Amazon¹.

Early Designs

My initial goal was to incorporate a kickstand into the case using a tri-fold design, akin to Studio Neat’s Canopy case for the Apple Magic Keyboard. Ultimately, that felt unachievable in the time available, but perhaps I might return to in the future.

In Studio Neat’s design, the strap serves double-duty, keeping the case closed, or securing it in a tent-like pose when open to prop up the phone.

I also contemplated a dual-panel design akin to many iPad cases. In both variants, the case would wrap around the screen of the phone to stop the keyboard scratching it when closed.

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