Stage: 3 of The Community Edition Project opened for submissions a few weeks ago. We challenged you all to create a unique packaging design that would house (2a) Community Edition when it goes on sale and gets shipped to customers!
We were looking for an idea that would complement our winning hardware concept by @Astrid and @Kenta … and our winning wallpaper concept by @Andres_123 .
Today, we are very excited to announce @Ian_H_Simmonds as our Stage 3: Packaging Design winner! 🥇
Ian, who is a freelance 3D Graphic Designer & Art Director from the UK, developed and submitted the winning concept: Less is More
"I specialize in apparel and fashion 3D design, but wanted to take part in the community co-creation project and after ‘life’ conspired against me for Stage 1 and 2, I finally made time for Stage 3.
In my submission ‘Less is More’, I wanted to take the established layout and aesthetic for the Phone (2a) packaging and give it a subtle, but disruptive development. I started by looking through Nothing’s design language and ways of deconstructing their forms and grids, whilst still keeping the unique and iconic aesthetic of the (2a) phone. This was also inspired by Stage 2 winner Andres’ process of creating a simplified, yet graphic form before working into the details.
In Cinema 4D & Redshift, I created a 3D product image that showed off the ‘dark mode’ of Astrid and Kenta’s Stage 1 design with a focus on texturing and beautiful details.
Each key phone element was rendered multiple times with different lighting schemes before being composited in Photoshop to create a striking final image." - Ian
To find our winning concept, the internal jury, comprised of @Ryan , Senior Director, Brand & Creative and Chris, Associate Principal Industrial Designer, shortlisted entries based on how closely they met the brief, their originality and their creative process. Community votes were consulted to find our final candidates and overall winner:
It’s been a privilege to be part of The Community Edition Project - and this stage was really fun. We were very impressed by a number of submissions but it was Ian’s that really stood out. It felt familiar to Nothing but also new and interesting, with the super-macro crop. Graphically, it was bold but with a welcome level of simplicity. There is something captivating about his use of a single camera lens, so large in frame. It plays on the original Phone (2a) narrative: Fresh Eyes. Also the use of UV materials was interesting yet restrained, which felt well-considered.
The simplicity here stood out, but in the end that will also be our challenge to execute it beautifully. Looking forward to working on this with Ian to bring it to life - Ryan
Ian will now dive into the co-creation process with our Brand & Creative team. Throughout the journey, his concept may evolve, so stay tuned for updates and behind-the-scenes content via our journal series.
Here’s what Ian had to say in response to being selected as our Stage: 3 winner:
Beyond excited to have made the final selection for the Packaging Design stage and cannot wait to work with the team at Nothing and the other stage winners to realise the final concept. This is something that is definitely outside of my comfort zone in terms of design discipline, so I cannot thank people enough for support and the positive feedback in the community. - Ian
Once again, a big thank you for everyone who submitted an entry to this stage and also to everyone who took the time to vote! As always, we will be sending a prize to a few runners-up as recognition for their work (be sure to check your emails).
So, what’s next?
The final stage of The Community Edition Project: Marketing Campaign, kicks off 10 July - stay tuned for the full brief! I hope you’ll join us in congratulating our Stage: 3 winner, @Ian_H_Simmonds 🎊 🤩
