NOKIA

Unplugged

Senior Capstone Project, Loyola University Chicago

The Brief

Reintroduce Nokia to Gen Z in a way that feels relevant, cultural, and emotionally resonant by reframing the landline as a lifestyle object rather than outdated technology.

The Insight

Nostalgia sells. The resurgence of vinyl records, film cameras, and flip phones shows that analog is emotionally powerful. In a world oversaturated with notifications, Gen Z craves texture, slowness, and intentionality.

Gen-Z is overstimulated, screen fatigued, and craving tactile, offline moments that feel intentional and aesthetic. For them, nostalgia is not about the past. It is about control, presence, and slowing down.

The Idea

Nokia brings the landline back into everyday life by turning it into a modern system for intentional connection. The Revival Line is a new generation of landlines designed to live alongside smartphones, not compete with them.

Instead of being always on, always reachable, users choose when the landline becomes the primary point of contact. During these moments, communication slows down and becomes deliberate. Calls replace texts. Voice replaces scrolling.

  • Strawberry Milk

  • Matcha Latte

  • Espresso

  • Cold Brew

  • Chai Foam

  • Oat Milk

Product Design: The Revival Line

The Revival Line reimagines Nokia’s design legacy through a soft, sculptural form and a palette inspired by coffeehouse culture. The six colorways, Strawberry Milk, Matcha Latte, Oat Milk, Espresso, Chai Foam, and Cold Brew, reflect the warmth, balance, and ritual of slow living.

The palette moves through creamy neutrals, grounded greens, and deep browns that evoke comfort and clarity, similar to the calm of a café morning. Matte finishes, muted tones, and rounded edges create a tactile and timeless product that fits naturally into modern spaces where mindfulness and design come together.

STRAWBERRY MILK
#EAB2A9

MATCHA LATTE
#939A74

ESPRESSO
#543B2C

OAT MILK
#DCC8AA

CHAI FOAM
#A97051

COLD BREW
#48433D

Strategic Foundation

  • Problem: Landlines are obsolete, especially among younger generations.

  • Solution: Reframe the landline as a symbol of mindfulness and authentic connection.

  • Message: Protect your peace. Disconnect to reconnect.

  • Tone: Warm, analog, and emotionally intelligent. Nostalgic yet modern.

TARGET

Gen Z (ages 18 to 28). Urban, nostalgic, and digitally overwhelmed. They balance school or early careers with constant connectivity and crave “meaningful disconnection.” They romanticize pre-digital life, thrift for unique items, and are drawn to tangible creative hobbies like journaling or film photography.

They are not anti-technology but are pro-intention. They view analog objects as aspirational because they create boundaries. For them, the Revival Line represents a lifestyle shift, something to display and photograph, not just use.

A young man with curly hair, wearing a plaid jacket, sitting at a wooden table inside a cafe with a coffee mug in front of him, gazing at the camera.
A young woman with black wavy hair and bangs sitting inside a cafe near a window, wearing a beige button-up shirt, looking at the camera with a relaxed expression.
A young woman with shoulder-length brown hair, glasses, and a neutral expression, holding a beige mug, sitting indoors with framed pictures and cameras in the background.
A young woman with red wavy hair and eyebrow piercings sitting at a table in a cozy cafe, holding a light blue mug and looking directly at the camera.
Young woman with wavy dark hair sitting in a vintage café, holding a mug of coffee, wearing layered necklaces, a choker, earrings, and a comfortable brown and cream cardigan.
Smartphone screen displaying a navigation app with a circular keypad for landline mode, a timer set to 00:00:00, and navigation buttons at the bottom for Home, Sleep, Landline, Discover, and Profile.

Landline Mode

The Revival Line comes to life through Landline Mode, a smartphone activation that redirects selected contacts to a real Nokia landline during scheduled offline hours. Notifications pause, digital noise fades, and only intentional calls get through.

In partnership with Calm, Landline Mode adds a layer of mindfulness to each interaction. Short grounding moments and conversation prompts help users approach calls with presence, turning them into meaningful rituals rather than interruptions.

The Revival Line is supported by a set of features designed to turn intentional connection into a daily habit. At its core, it functions as an elevated Do Not Disturb mode that goes beyond silencing notifications. Users schedule offline hours where notifications pause and communication is redirected to a Nokia landline, allowing them to step away from constant availability without fully disconnecting. Through the Phonebook and Inner Circle, users can call anyone in their contacts while only selected people are able to reach them during these hours, making availability a choice rather than an expectation. In partnership with Calm, short mindfulness moments help users slow down before and after calls, while progress tracking and optional community challenges reinforce unplugging as a sustainable lifestyle practice. Together, these features transform the landline into a modern system for presence, balance, and meaningful connection.

Together, The Revival Line and Landline Mode reposition the landline as more than a piece of hardware. They turn it into a cultural system for intentional living. By pairing a physical object with a digital activation, Nokia creates a new relationship between technology and availability. The Revival Line brings landlines back into everyday life, while Landline Mode modernizes how they are used, proving that the most relevant technology today is not the loudest or fastest, but the one that gives people control over their time, attention, and connections.

Reflection

This project served as my senior capstone and represented the culmination of everything I’ve learned throughout my degree. It was an individual project, so every part of the process from the initial research and situational analysis to the strategy, creative development, and design execution was done entirely by me.

I began by identifying a real problem within a legacy brand: Nokia’s loss of relevance in the modern market. My goal was to reimagine how a brand built on connection could evolve in an era defined by overstimulation and digital burnout. Through extensive research, I developed a full strategic foundation that analyzed Nokia’s current positioning, cultural context, and competitive landscape, which ultimately led to the idea of bringing back the landline as a symbol of mindfulness and meaningful disconnection.

From there, I designed every visual and experiential element to align with that insight, from the color palette and product design of The Revival Line to the immersive Landline Mode app integration. Each touchpoint was created to bring analog connection into modern life, blending nostalgia with relevance for a generation that values balance and presence.

This project challenged me to think like both a strategist and an art director, balancing insight-driven decisions with conceptual storytelling and cohesive visual branding. It became a reflection of my creative philosophy: design that not only looks beautiful but says something about the culture we live in.

May 2025