Design is Alive:
“Phoenix” Adaptable Cellphone

Design lives in its environment and has a story worth introducing. Thinking about the relationship between people and the objects they own is a core part of the design process. However, one of the most interesting phenomenon in product design is the idea of a person keeping a personal object for decades, but throwing away others at the chance to get a new one.

Something incredible happens when a person is given something which becomes more than its monetary value possesses a part of its history. A physical embodiment of the stories and memories the product was a part of before it was passed on. Suddenly, in the instant the exchange takes place, the product’s entire lifespan was sustained for the sake of making into its new owner’s hands.

Although not as romantic, today’s electronics and various products do their best to fabricate their own legacies to include the touch points of a natural product lifestyle with its users. Of course, most products do no have the luxury of centuries of history or the resale value of an antique, so a story is constructed and shaped around the product. However, these objects do not necessarily have to rely on a long history to succeed in implanting and emotional incentive into the buyer. Many brands and products have built their legacy on the backs of their inventors, manufacturers and even country.

In the conceptual phone design of the “Phoenix” brand phone, the idea of passing on a cellphone to another user was explored through means of customization, adaptability and down-cycling. The Phoenix is unique in its hardware capabilities that allow its user to hot-swap various units depending on performance demand. With this idea in mind, the use is more readily excepting of a basic framework as long as they are able to use it to model their own communications device.