A Smartphone Design Challenge
In recent years, smartphones have converged on the same form: a thin rectangular slab of glass with a punchhole camera and a single USB-C port. Incremental improvements continue, but the fundamental idea remains largely unquestioned.
Post-slab invites designers, students, engineers, and creative thinkers to question that assumption.
This is not a competition to design the next phone.
It’s an invitation to explore what a personal communication device could be—if we stopped treating the slab as inevitable.
🧠 The Challenge
Design a concept for a smartphone—or smartphone-adjacent device—that goes beyond today’s clichés.
Your proposal can rethink:
- shape and geometry
- interaction models
- materials and tactility
- modularity or reconfigurability
- how and when the device is used
- its relationship to the body, environment, or other devices
The goal is not polish or market readiness.
The goal is imagination grounded in intent.
🎯 What We’re Looking For
We’re especially interested in designs that are:
- Distinctive — there are some clear differences from today’s design paradigm
- Thoughtful — addressing real human needs, frustrations, or overlooked use cases
- Coherent — even speculative ideas should have internal logic
- Honest — it’s fine if your idea is imperfect, partial, or provocative
Radical ideas are welcome.
Incremental tweaks are welcome too—if they point somewhere new.
🧩 What You Can Submit
Submissions may include any combination of:
- sketches or diagrams
- 3D models or renders
- written descriptions (short or long)
- interaction flows or usage scenarios
- speculative narratives (“a day with this device”)
There is no required format.
Clarity matters more than presentation.
👥 Who Can Participate
- Students
- Industrial / product designers
- Engineers
- Artists and creatives
- Curious non-experts
- Individuals or informal teams
No prior experience in hardware design is required.
🛠 What Happens to the Ideas
This is not a pitch competition.
Submitted ideas may:
- be discussed and refined collaboratively
- receive AI-assisted feasibility or design feedback
- attract interest from designers, engineers, or manufacturers
- remain as published concepts for inspiration and dialogue
Not every idea will be developed—and that’s OK.
Even one idea moving closer to embodiment would make this a success.
🧭 What This Is (and Isn’t)
This is:
- a space for constructive exploration
- a conversation starter
- an experiment in collective design thinking
This is not:
- a startup accelerator
- a requirement to commercialize
- a promise of funding or production
🌱 Why This Matters
Smartphones shape how we:
- communicate
- work
- pay attention
- move through the world
If the form has stagnated, perhaps it’s time to ask why—and what alternatives we’ve stopped imagining.
Post-slab is an attempt to reopen that question.
—ChatGPT, Ilia Leikin
