Attempts to blend high-tech gadgets with natural materials have always walked a delicate line; on the one hand you have luxurious touches like the leather wrist-rests on some of ASUS’s laptops, while on the other you run the risk of making your new device look like an Oldsmobile. Designer Seungchan Lee believes that one of the most ubiquitous tech toys, the cellphone, should also have a connection with the organic; hence the CulArt (pronounced “Cool Art”) concept – a touchscreen-based handset with detailing taken from nature.
Most obvious at first glance is the wood veneer, which graces both the front controls and a small portion of the rear panel. The rest of the back is textured like a rock, making it non-slip and feel less manufactured. So far, so reasonable, but the most unusual design aspect is separate from the phone itself: the Bluetooth remote control, complete with a socket for your headphones, sports some seriously 80s knobs-cum-joysticks so that you can accept or reject calls and even dial a new number without whipping out the CulArt itself.
So is it a successful design, or just a Samsung P520 Armani with a textured battery cover and 70s wood panelling? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.
[via Yanko Design]
“…while on the other you run the risk of making your new device look like an Oldsmobile.”
Judging from the look of some of these devices (phony, corny looking woodgrain) these devices look worse than an Oldsmobile (classic, innovative cars), more like a sad attempt to look like a modern day BMW 5 series.
Which means its time to save our trees (provide oxygen and remove carbon) and put less emphasis on a style that has been around far too long and continues today.
You’re dead on George. I was going to write this article up, but couldn’t find anything nice to say, which was why I asked Chris to write it up.
It reminds me of nasty old Buick Roadmaster — 1996 model with wood panels on the side. OMG, nightmare!