Blending Mechanical and Digital: A Smartphone

With all the digital elements in our daily lives, sometimes design looks back. Richard Clarkson decided to blend the retro rotary dial of old telephones (the electroplated copper boosts the effect) with the latest technologies. The result is very interesting.

The Rotary Mechanical Smartphone comes with two interchangeable dials, the rotary one and a button deal. Surprisingly, switching from one to the other follows mechanisms similar to those used in changing the lenses of a photo camera. This combination brings us to a very tangible dimension and makes this design transversal: it speaks both to steampunk and to minimalistic fans. Next time you make a call, imagine to be turning that dial.

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