The idea was simply put into the “gentle shape.” The designer, Hideo Kambara, imagined just such a product. PLY is a mobile phone born of the fresh idea of multiple layering, one layer stacked upon another. Of the five layers that compose the body of this mobile phone, each layer is a different color, which, combined with an exquisite balance, achieves a single distinctive hue. The secret to this effect is contained in the plywood, which is composed of thin layers of wood glued together, and in the combination of the strength of the wood and the lateral beauty of the layering. The warm texture and naturally soft feel of the coloring imparts a unique, soft ambience to PLY. Furthermore, the mobile phone’s distinctiveness lies in the details. PLY’s original font is adopted for the key buttons and letter display in the LCD. Each time you hold it, you can sense a world of intelligence—a world of pop culture. It has a design that anyone who has glanced at it can recall right away and a light appearance that unconsciously makes you want to reach out and touch it. PLY holds the potential to completely transform the relationship between you and your mobile phone.
Hideo Kambara Product Designer and Art Director
Born in 1978 in Hiroshima, Japan. After working as an in-house designer, Kambara joined Dentsu Inc. He has been involved in art direction recently and the spatial design of concept models such as INFOBAR 2. Furthermore, he has received numerous awards, including the D&AD Yellow Pencil Award for his PLY concept models. Among these is the Kadokeshi, an eraser with 28-corners, which was exhibited in the Humble Masterpieces Exhibition at the New York Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), and which was also later selected for the permanent collection.
http://www.barakan.jp
Born in 1978 in Hiroshima, Japan. After working as an in-house designer, Kambara joined Dentsu Inc. He has been involved in art direction recently and the spatial design of concept models such as INFOBAR 2. Furthermore, he has received numerous awards, including the D&AD Yellow Pencil Award for his PLY concept models. Among these is the Kadokeshi, an eraser with 28-corners, which was exhibited in the Humble Masterpieces Exhibition at the New York Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), and which was also later selected for the permanent collection.
http://www.barakan.jp
PLY has three color variations. There is brown, recalling the texture of wood material; pink, creating an image of layered petals; and black, reproducing the three-dimensional texture of monochrome. The depth and expression produced through each layer make PLY’s unique presence stand out even more. The graphical user interface brings the world of PLY to full expression. The interface, which uses the finest pop colors and exhibits the same layering motif as the body, simplifies the daily flow of diverse information on multiple levels.
The concept of layering has further expanded the freedom of the mobile phone. PLY positions all of the side keys on one lateral face. You can smoothly perform daily operations with one hand using tab keys that remind one of topical folders and schedule book indices. The tab keys represent an innovation that has transformed the mobile phone into a tool that can be used even more intuitively. With the advent of PLY, the mobile phone is just setting out on its next evolutionary step!
