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Article created by: Indrė Lukošiūtė

We’re about to hit you with such a heavy dose of nostalgia, you’ll probably wish you had a time machine, dear Pandas. Us? We’re already working on the blueprints: the early 2000s are calling us and we have no choice but to answer!

Like it or not, smartphones are here to stay for a long while. And while the tech and functionality are both brilliant nowadays, it sometimes feels like we lost a bit of soul when we upgraded. But things didn’t use to look so bland! In between the eras of old-timey bricks and ultra-modern slabs of obsidian, we had an era of unparalleled design innovation. Phones used to look incredibly strange, unique, and (dare we say it?) cool, back in the first decade of the new millennium.

Writer Gerry McBride, who works at the satirical news site Waterford Whispers News, went viral on Twitter after sharing some of the most out-there phone designs ever. We’re featuring the pics that he and other social media users brought to everyone’s attention. Upvote your fave phones, Pandas! Let us know which ones you had (or had your eye on). Oh, and be sure to check out Bored Panda’s full interview with Gerry. If you enjoyed his thread and incredibly witty commentary, be sure to follow his Twitter, too!

Meanwhile, we also got in touch with Matt Johnson, Ph.D., for a few insights into product design and the importance of functionality when it comes to phones. Johnson is a professor of consumer psychology at Hult International Business School and Harvard University, the host of the Neuroscience of Branding blog, and the author of ‘Branding that Means Business: How to Build Enduring Bonds between Brands, Consumers and Markets.’ You’ll find both of our interviews below.