Nothing Unveils Industry First Co-Created Smartphone

Six months, four winners, and one unique product—Nothing invited its community to create a new edition of its latest smartphone: Phone (2a) Plus. The result is a glow-in-the-dark version with fireflies at the centre of its campaign.

Nothing today unveiled the final outcomes of The Community Edition Project. The Phone (2a) Plus Community Edition is Nothing’s first co-created product, where some of its most talented followers worked directly with the Nothing Team. From hardware to wallpapers, packaging to marketing, this smartphone has been entirely shaped by the imagination of Nothing’s community.

Nothing is pioneering a new way of working that seeks to erase the barrier between company and community. The project generated significant excitement, with over 900 entries from 47 countries around the world. The Community Edition Project is Nothing’s first major pilot to

co-create hardware, software, and content with its community, marking a key step towards shaping the future of the business together.

Winners Astrid Vanhuyse & Kenta Akasaki, Andrés Mateos, Ian Henry Simmonds and Sonya Palma, collaborated closely with Nothing’s Design Studio, Creative, Brand and Marketing teams in London to further refine their winning concepts. The result of this collaboration between the

Nothing team and the community is Phone (2a) Plus Community Edition, a glow-in-the-dark interpretation of the popular Phone (2a) Plus.

Stage 1 – Hardware Design

Astrid Vanhuyse & Kenta Akasaki collaborated with Nothing’s Design Director Adam Bates and CMF Designer Lucy Birley, experimenting with a variety of materials and colours to bring their “Phosphorescence” concept to life, all while preserving the device’s core Nothing identity. Using green-tinted phosphorescent material finishes, elements of the back of the phone emit a soft glow in dark environments. This feature is purely analogue, requiring no power source, and can last for hours before gradually fading until it recharges by daylight.

Stage 2 – Wallpaper Design

Building on the hardware design, Andrés Mateos used a mix of AI tools and digital design to create the “Connected Collection”. Initially tasked with developing four wallpapers, Andrés, along with Nothing’s Software Design Director Mladen M Hoyss and Software Designer Ken Giang, decided to expand the final collection to six wallpapers.

Stage 3 – Packaging Design

Ian Henry Simmonds reinterpreted Nothing’s packaging design with his “Less is More” concept

– a  graphically bold, yet simple super-macro crop. The final packaging includes reflective elements which glow in dark environments to complement the winning hardware design.

Stage 4 – Marketing Campaign

Sonya Palma brought all the elements together with her intimate and powerful campaign concept, “Find your light. Capture your light”. This compelling campaign echoes Nothing’s very first product launch where “pure instinct” was at the campaign’s centre. Both allude to the idea that we all have an inner power that deserves to be explored. Sonya worked with Nothing’s Creative Team to develop a suite of elevated assets, including a film campaign and digital assets that supported the launch of the product.

Rooted in Community

Co-creation is at the core of Nothing’s mission. While Phone (2a) Plus Community Edition is the Community Team’s largest project to date, Nothing is constantly working with community members to co-develop software and content. In 2022, Nothing also introduced the role of a Community Board Observer, an elected individual who represents the community at Nothing’s Board of Directors meetings.

Availability and Pricing

The Community Edition Project phone is available across all markets and has been developed on Phone (2a) Plus (except for Phone (2a) in Japan).

Nothing will produce just 1,000 units of Phone (2a) and Phone (2a) Plus Community Edition. Inthe Philippines, only 25 units will be available to purchase on a first-come, first-served basis from 16 November at Nothing’s Official Store on Shopee, priced at P24,990

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