In Yorkshire, the word graft means work. And hard graft means proper work. I think it may translate South, but either way it means something to us working class Northerners.

When I happened upon a very cool company making poncy laptop sleeves and ipod accoutriments based in Austria, I thought it was interesting. So interesting, in fact, that I bought some of their very lovely product. It turns out that there’s indeed an English link with one of the founders from round these parts (ie the North).

If you’ve not come across them yet, then you’re missing out.

Have a look here and you won’t be disappointed. Your wallet might be quite a bit lighter than when you started, but I guarantee that although the products may seem expensive, they add value to my day to day existence – and it’s not often you can say that.

Now the iPad is lovely, so I won’t witter on about that again. But I wasn’t impressed with Apple’s shoddy rubberised case/stand thing – it looked cheap and devalued the beautiful design of the iPad. So I needed a real case. Hard Graft were on the case (see what I did there) with a few options and I went for the newest – and most expensive – option as luck would have it.

Well it arrived today and as per my previous purchases, it was exquisitely packaged. They certainly have an eye for the texture, presentation and quality of not just the product, but the way it is unveiled before your eyes.

Apologies for the packaging porn, but I couldn’t resist the lingering images of foil blocking and embossed loveliness. There is a symmetry here – a joy and care in the presentation, that reflects the time and effort taken to getting the sublime product just right, a feat that remains unattainable to the mainstream brands.