It’s not hard to see the future of electronics is all about slim and sleek, metal and glass, technogadgetmatry and multimedia. Is there any room for the retro stylings of yesteryear? And what about nature? Shouldn’t something organic make its way into our hyper-tech designs? Designer Seungchan Lee thinks the CulArt (pronounce Cool Art) concept fulfills both.

Internally you have your typical smartphone design; touchscreen, camera, slim but the physical design differs greatly. First off you’ll notice the wood paneling, you know… to invoke the idea of trees. That’s the nature bit of the design. The included bluetooth headset/remote uses a series of knobs to control the phone’s most basic functions. Clearly retro and clearly pre-80’s. Flip the phone around and you’ll find a rocky textured surface which prevents slippage and reminds you of how much you suck at rock climbing.

Is it really cool?

Designer: Seungchan Lee