13 Clever Projects Where A Design School's Students Turned Old Smartphones Into Something Useful

“Right after we explained the subject, the students came up with many different ideas. The topic really struck them,” Martijn Verpaalen, project mentor at L’École de design Nantes Atlantique, shared in the interview with Bored Panda.

Instead of trying to turn old phones back into full‑blown mini computers, the students leaned into monotasking: one object, one clear function, done well.

Working in teams, the students turned anonymous old phones into characterful little objects with their own personalities:

1. A daily clock named Timo, with a charming retro look that turns an old screen into a warm, analog‑style time companion.
2. A discreet surveillance camera hidden inside a lamp, turning a forgotten device into a subtle home guardian.
3. For offices, a meeting‑room reservation device and a desk time‑tracker that quietly help teams manage their time and spaces.
4. For families, prototypes of a simple home phone, a children’s music player, and even a baby monitor that lets an “obsolete” phone do something very present and caring.

“I loved this project because it felt like proper design work: we had a real constraint, a real problem, and we had to make something that genuinely improves everyday life,” explained one of the students.

Behind these playful objects is a very real issue: our appetite for new tech is generating a tsunami of electronic waste. In 2022, the world generated around 62 million tonnes of e‑waste, with small IT and telecom devices like smartphones contributing millions of tonnes to that stream. Yet only about one‑fifth of global e‑waste is documented as properly collected and recycled.

“We really want our work to have an impact,” said another student. “It’s not just about making a cool object, it’s about showing that keeping a phone longer, or giving it a second life, is a real design choice.”

Rephone doesn’t claim to solve the global e‑waste crisis on its own, but it does something crucial: it shows, at a very human scale, that design can stretch the life of existing objects instead of automatically demanding new ones.

For the students, Rephone was more than a technical exercise. They had to:

1. Work across both digital and physical design, from interfaces and interactions to housings and materials.
2. Think like product designers and service designers at the same time: who will use this object, in what context, and for how long?
3. Reflect on the ethics of replacement: when is a new device really necessary, and when can thoughtful redesign make “old” feel new enough?

“Reusing materials was honestly one of the most fun parts,” admitted a student. “You start with this ‘useless’ thing, and little by little you turn it into something people actually want to touch and keep.”

By the end of the project, phones that once felt slow or useless had become focused tools with a clear purpose. Meanwhile, the students had sharpened their skills in interface design, product design, and sustainable thinking.

Rephone isn’t over. In an upcoming five‑day workshop, new student teams will take the concept further:

1. Exploring more use cases at home, at work, and in public spaces.
2. Prototyping new applications specifically designed for old hardware.
3. Documenting everything so that others can build on their ideas.

“This is just a first step,” said Martijn. “Now the students want to partner up and turn some of these concepts into real products people can use.”

All results will be shared as open‑source resources, making it easier for designers, educators, and everyday tinkerers around the world to give their own “drawer phones” a second life.