How do you protect an Android phone against drops?

Statistics show that the number of times a cell phone is dropped and the likelihood that the jolt will be hard enough to cause malfunctions, including shattered screen, increase proportionately to the number of dollars spent on the phone. In other words, try to break a cheapy flip phone -- I dare you. On the other hand, baby your Android and still, without proper protection, you will soon splatter it across the sidewalk. In order to be perfectly clear, allow me to show you the equations expressing this direct proportion:

$$$ (Think Samsung Galaxy S3)   ↑ ↑   Damage
&
$$$ (Think Nameless Flip Phone)   ↓ ↓   Damage

Though it's worth it to keep our valuable phones safe, I am opposed to bulky cases. Really heavy-duty, get-the-job-done, popular cases like These Guys. They're great... a lot of people love them. I appreciate that the color choices are expanding. But I love slim, sleek Androids. My case needs to protect the phone, but without making it unrecognizable and obnoxious. I was thrilled to discover The Perfect Case, a few months ago. The brand is Capdase. These cases are made of an inner silicone soft layer, and an outer metal/plastic mix hard layer. Soft inside absorbs impact, hard outside holds shape against impact (and makes it easier to slip into pocket than just silicone).
When I first discovered these cases, I could find no options other than black or white. Now Black, White, Red, Light Blue, and (most importantly) Purple have become available. Capdase doesn't make these cases for every phone, but many of the more popular ones these days. If you can't find it for your phone, tell me what model your phone is, and I'll let you know if there is a generic available (I am currently using a generic version [purple outside, black inside -- perfection] as happily as I previously used my HTC One V genuine Capdase case.

Only downside I have encountered with these cases: when they do get dropped, the outer layer of paint can be scraped, revealing a metal-type color underneath. Hopefully Capdase or competitors will resolve the problem, but currently Capdase and generics are the only option I like, so it's a good thing this downside is a very small issue.