{"id":237705,"date":"2026-01-17T07:48:17","date_gmt":"2026-01-17T07:48:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/237705\/"},"modified":"2026-01-17T07:48:17","modified_gmt":"2026-01-17T07:48:17","slug":"minimalist-phone-takes-on-teenage-engineering-inspired-design-to-offer-hyper-functionality","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/237705\/","title":{"rendered":"Minimalist Phone Takes On Teenage Engineering-inspired Design To Offer Hyper-Functionality"},"content":{"rendered":"

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This phone is so minimal it doesn\u2019t even have a name. This brick-ish beauty comes from the mind of Keziah Mendjisky, an industrial design student out of Paris. The idea is simple, how much can you take away from current phones to give you something that feels like a phone and performs like a phone, but doesn\u2019t have any of the distractions? Mendjisky\u2019s attempt at re-envisioning a connectivity device is gorgeously risqu\u00e9, resulting in something that you\u2019d first think was a calculator.<\/p>\n

Grab it, however, and you\u2019ll realize it doesn\u2019t have your calculator\u2019s layout. The numbers are laid out like a phone, starting from the top unlike a calculator (which starts from the bottom), there are volume and playback keys, and two conspicuous buttons marked green and red, which become obvious once you realize they\u2019re for answering or rejecting calls. Everything gets packaged in a design format that would make folks at Braun or Teenage Engineering very happy \u2013 the use of white, the employment of tactile surfaces, and just the right amount of fun without making the device look like an unserious toy.<\/p>\n

Designer: Keziah Mendjisky<\/p>\n

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\u201cThis concept rethinks what a phone should be in a world of constant distraction. No glass screen. No endless scrolling,\u201d says Mendjisky. One could argue that \u2018no glass screen\u2019 might be pushing things a little too far, but the minimal phone he designed with this very constraint still feels \u2018cool\u2019. The screen is replaced by a backlit plastic panel with a dot-matrix light-up display \u2013 think screen on your Ember thermos or the Mui Board Gen 2<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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The top right corner of the display is dedicated to the time and weather. The left, however, is where the main elements are visible, A very tactile scroll wheel lets you quickly jump through functions or contacts, while a green or red button lets you call or disconnect. In the middle, a speaker key lets you activate the loudspeaker mode while on calls, with the speaker unit itself right above the button array.<\/p>\n

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The rest of the buttons lack a concrete explanation, but it\u2019s easy to infer what they could be for. Numbers dial numbers, obviously, but there\u2019s a T9 keyboard underneath too, presumably for searching contacts or texting. Forward and rewind buttons could possibly hint at voicemail playback, although the phone apparently handles media too. Most buttons are concave, making them reliable to press, although a few critical buttons have an embossed\/extruded design, probably hinting at more core functionality.<\/p>\n

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Phoning is arguably the most important aspect to this minimalist gadget, although Mendjisky\u2019s visuals hint at a few core tools like music playback, navigation, and maybe even an alarm. Plus, given its calculator-esque aesthetic, I\u2019d probably expect a calculator function to be built-in too, but the lack of addition\/subtraction\/etc buttons does tend to worry me!<\/p>\n

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