stefano giovannoni for alessi x iida

stefano giovannoni for alessi x iida (above) fishing boat charging and docking system for the alessi ‘face’ phone

italian design company and manufacturer alessi and japanese product manufacturer iida, have collaborated on a set of cell phones presented in tokyo during the annual designers week and as part of the offsite events of designtide tokyo 2010. for the project, alessi and iida hired designers stefano giovannoni, marcel wanders and patricia urquiola to creatively reinterpret the cell phone in a way that aims to blend both art and life, while still maintaining practicality.

image courtesy of alessi / iida

building on this idea that we cannot live without our electronic mobile devices, stefano giovannoni has developed a cell phone which acts as one’s  ‘…partner for the everyday’, expressing the shape of a face. a circle on the back of the display is vivid and moving, conveying the image of ‘eyes’, with a small curve in the phone’s form which is meant to represent a ‘nose’, and that also aids in helping user’s open the body. the black hinges of the phone are reminiscent of ‘hair’. in addition, giovannoni has also created a set of accessories to accompany the phone.

charging and docking system which makes the phone look like its walking its dog… image courtesy of alessi / iida

cat tied around a tree charging and docking system image courtesy of alessi / iida

bed, lamp and night side table charging and docking system image courtesy of alessi / iida

‘face’ phone has an eye which is vivid and moving image courtesy of alessi / iida

‘face’ phone image courtesy of alessi / iida

additional accessories giovannoni designed for the phone

giovannoni working on his design