Essential, at it’s time a hot and promising Silicon Valley startup, set out to design premium Android phones. I was the 60th employee, and it was a difficult and thrilling place to work. The company has since closed down, but the products were, in many ways, ahead of their time.

The phone was one of the first bezel-less phones, and had a titanium enclosure and ceramic back. The 360 degree camera attached to the phone via multi-pole magnets, using the battery and computational power of the phone rather than needing it’s own, and took 4K 360 degree video.

As one of two product designers, rather than designing a particular component, I was responsible for the design and production of an entire device. We worked with our manufacturer closely, providing the technical specs, Industrial Design, and guidance on how to best design the device to achieve them both.