Cell Fun: Two Mobile Makeovers

By Rebecca Isenberg

Forget Murakami bags and motorcycle boots. Today no fashion look can be called complete without a cell phone. Yet nobody has given much thought to upgrading the design of these ubiquitous tech toys. TIME dialed up two renowned designers and asked for help. Art director Fabien Baron sketched what he calls a nomadic instant-communication panel, left, which provides voice communication, interactive chatting, Internet access and movies, TV and games while in transit. "It's a connector, a medium and a refuge," says Baron. "The ultimate stimulus for our nomadic generation." Taking the notion of cell phone as appendage, architect David Rockwell called on the tattoo for inspiration and created a voice-activated Patch Phone, right. "It addresses how to connect the phone to a person's body, not in the cyborg-implant kind of way but similar to a nicotine patch," says Rockwell. It could also become fashionable, like a piece of jewelry. Just remember to turn it off. --R.I.