LG Kurv Smartphone

During Fall of 2005 at RISD, I took an Advanced Studio course sponsored by LG Electronics on designing a concept smart phone for the year 2007. Although this project is fairly old, I have much pride in the result of the concept and design. This strongly represents my sense of understanding new design and challenging the latest technology.

Through user survey, market research, and competitive benchmarking, I specified an opportunity for a new market segment and new product design. This allowed me to gain in-depth knowledge in profiling/user mapping/product grouping as well as to define and set trends in both design and functional elements.

LG Kurv is the next generation smart phone that uses a flexible AMOLED touch screen, which is curved to the silhouette of your face for better ergonomics and call performance. It drastically differentiates itself from the phones currently in the market. It’s small and built to fit comfortably in your hands and pockets. The minimalistic design and material finishing, creates a luxurious and unique experience.

I’ve questioned myself numerous times what the main purpose of a phone was. Texting? Photos? I kept going back to its core function, which boils down to talking and hearing. I wanted the phone to not only look beyond ordinary, but to have the best mic and best speakers to listen and talk to. This influenced the phone’s pointy top and bottom design so that we can fit bigger sound drivers.

The curved screen not only is ergonomic but also allows the mic to be placed closer to your mouth. When you put your phone inside your pocket, the phone naturally wraps around the your body curvature. There is more comfort because of its small form factor. The rotation based UI follows the curvature of the phone’s silhouette. Simple widgets and information are displayed on the top and bottom, which allows maximum screen estate. This was rapid prototyped using SLA, painted and assembled.

Jae’s LG Kurv was designed in October 2005. In June of 2007, the first iPhone was released. In November of 2013, the LG G Flex was released.