Long and boring
"Who made it?"
I am not sure what the question was about since everyone knows that I have a case making studio that I run. But in case anyone wants to know here is one picture of my team posing in front of the Palace Garden case.
Zhen Hai is the guy in black.
My method of making cases is a bit different than most in the business. I guess it's ok to explain it again for the new folks who haven't heard it already.
I am more of a designer and engineer and less of a craftsman. As such I spend most of time working out the technical details of how to build a case. That's why we can offer cases with such a fanatical devotion to the protection. Most of you wouldn't believe the amount of time I spend refining the interiors of our cases. I believe that the interior is the most important part of a case. For the exteriors I am always trying to push the technical limits of what can be done and make them easier to use, less likely to break, handles more comfortable, handle holders more secure, etc... I am always looking to see how we can build the case in a different way that allows us to be more creative.
If I didn't have a team that would carry out my wishes then it's fair to say that JB Cases wouldn't exist. And if my team was incapable of learning to do what I want then it's fair to say that they could never produce a case as good as this "Monster" case is or any of the other high end ones we have done.
Most of my case making colleagues are one-man shops more or less. They may have help from time to time from spouses or hired help but they do most of the work by themselves on their own. That's the type of case maker that I will never be. I can do all the work, I can do the construction, I can use the sewing machine, I can run the laser, I can make patterns (in fact I make most of the patterns), I can tool and carve. In short I can do everything that I ask my staff to do. Not as well as they can but I can do it. What they can't do though is dream up the ways to build cases that I do. Not yet at least but they are getting there.
This is my passion in life, to build cue cases. Since my early cases I have always had people to do the work I don't want to do or couldn't do as well. So when I founded Instroke I built a team of people to help me do the unique cases and when we went to mass production I chose a factory that had over 100 years of experience in high end leather goods.
When I got back into the business two and a half years ago I started to build another team. For the past two years I have been training them and molding them into the kind of people who can think creatively and pay attention to the details. I have seen them blossom from very shy and nervous people who needed to be watched every second into confident and skilled artists capable of producing world class cases almost on their own.
So the answer is that WE made this case. Directly in my shop it was Zhen Hai who had the idea and got it made using the whole team. Since it's my shop I get to have the credit but anyone who reads my website knows that I am very upfront about how we build cases.
Another part of my dream is to build something that will live beyond me. We aren't there just yet but soon JB Cases will be able to turn out fantastic cases completely without me being involved. Then Karen and I can travel the world looking for exotic leathers and new experiences. I will then be confident that our customers are in great hands, the hands I trained and trust.
It's mentioned a lot that the team is in China, the cases are from China, JB is in China, for whatever reason China seems to come up a lot. Again on my website on the front page and throughout the site I clearly explain that I live and work in China. The reason I am here is because I do work for Sterling Gaming to help them develop new products and improve the ones they already have. While here I decided I wanted to make cases again and that's what led to JB Cases as it exists today.
For some the actual place where a product was built is important. The reasons could be patriotic, economic, cultural, bias, ignorance, education, etc.... I myself am a citizen of the world. My country sent me to Germany to serve in the Air Force in 1989 when I was 20 and I never came back. In the past 20 years 15 of them have been spent outside the USA and I have been to more than 18 countries. My family was very nomadic going from place to place in the USA, we have lived in or stayed in all 48 connected states so I don't have the deep seated roots that many folks around the world have that is the foundation of their patriotism. So for me the most important thing is HOW is the product made. I think we can all agree that there are some very poor products being made in the USA and some VERY VERY good ones.
Most people have a very hard time changing their minds once they are made up. If a Chinese guy hates the USA for whatever reason then they are going to not buy anything made in the USA if they can help it. Same goes in the other direction with the American who has a bias against the Chinese. I really can't do anything about the larger conflicts in the world. All the information one needs to see beyond the headlines are there if one cares to read them. There is a lot wrong with the world on all sides and so for me rather than debate them on newsgroups I prefer to jsut try to do what I can to make my part of the world better.
All I can do is make what I want to make wherever I happen to be and hopefully I can infect others around me with the same level of passion for what it is I want to do and get them to grow as people.
I'd expect any of my colleagues who now make awesome cases in the USA to do the same if they suddenly found themselves living in another country and they continued their craft. Either way I think that those who end up with our cases are pleased with them.
The last thing is that I heard the other day that some folks think I have a factory here. I don't. I have a studio with 7 people working for me. Four of them build the JB Cases, J.Flowers models, and some special order GTF cases. The other three do prototypes for mass production cases. Another thing I do is bring all the developments in building cases, including how to build more protective interiors, to the production cases that Sterling carries. I don't own or run a factory and honestly this is about as many people as I ever want to manage. Someone asked me the other day how many cases we make per week. We are lucky if we get three done but the reality is more like 1-2 at best.
Well, anyway in true JB fashion this was a long answer to a short question. I hope it helps to understand how and why we build cases the way we do.
Best,
John Barton
www.jbcases.com
