Here’s a simple solution to a pretty common cell phone design problem. Most sliders will have a fairly direct lateral transition when you open and close them, giving the phone an irregular and sometimes uncomfortable profile. Some of the more clever manufacturers, like Palm with the Pre and Sony Ericsson with the XPERIA, have been playing with curved sliding mechanisms, but it’s still only a half-solution. Designer Matthias Pugin coooked up these renders of a phone, the t02, that includes a proper second dimension of movement, resulting in flush sides when the handset is both open and closed. The pictures don’t show exactly how the mechanism would work, but I’m sure it wouldn’t be too hard to figure out.
[via The Design Blog]