Nothing took the ‘community’ aspect of its brand marketing a little too seriously and asked its followers worldwide to co-create a new edition of its flagship Phone (2a) Plus. After receiving over 900 entries from 47 countries, the company crowned five winners and worked with them to develop the culmination of their ideas: a glow-in-the-dark phone.
This is Nothing’s first Community Edition Project, and it involved input not only on the hardware side but also on software, packaging, and marketing, making this edition entirely shaped by them. These are the only areas that saw a change following the co-creation. The specs and features on this version are the same as the original edition released back in July 2024. Nothing prides itself on actually valued community input and goes as far as to say, “Community is something that other brands talk about, but Nothing is proud to bring this to life through a product launch.”
The co-created edition for Nothing’s flagship phone retains the company’s identity, which came through on the original version. It’s the same transparent enclosure allowing users to look at the phone’s internal components, such as the ribbons and the screws, and the same three glyph lights that light the phone’s rear. In addition to those lights, a new phosphorescence interface dimly illuminates the back with its soft, subtle glow. The company’s designers experimented with various materials and colors to execute the winner’s glow-in-the-dark demands and settled on this phosphorescent green-tinted material.
On the software side, the winning ideas led to a new “Connected Collection” of six wallpapers involving AI tools and some digital design.
There’s some glow-in-the-dark activity going on on the phone’s new packaging, too. The new design features some reflective elements to suit the phone’s new design. The marketing campaign for this edition also complements the winning ideas and features a slogan that reads “Find your light. Capture your light” with a focus on exploring one’s inner power.
The Phone (2a) Plus Community Edition will be available to purchase across all markets starting November 12 on nothing.tech for roughly $519 (converted from £399). There are just 1,000 units in this edition, so you have to hurry to snag yours.
It looks like Nothing is really working on getting its community more involved in its design process. This was its largest community project to date, and as we speak, it’s working on co-developing software and content. In 2022, it also introduced a new Community Board Observer role, which is responsible for representing what consumers want at the Board of Directors meetings level.