Before Carl Pei moved over to Nothing, OnePlus definitely sat on the throne of the most user-friendly smartphone OEM. That’s not to say that OnePlus doesn’t embrace its community any longer, because it does. However, I’d argue that Nothing currently has that crown sitting snugly atop its head.
One good example of that is its Community Edition Project. Last year, it gave Nothing fans the chance to team up and bring their own take to the Nothing Phone 2a Plus. Here in 2025, Nothing is gearing up for the sophomore iteration of the event, but this time, focusing on the Nothing Phone 3a.
Nothing’s Second Community Edition Project Gives You the Chance to Design a New Phone 3a
As tech enthusiasts, we’ve definitely had one or two (or fifty) phones that we “could do better” on, especially in terms of design. I mean, I’m always here complaining about how Samsung’s designs have been stagnant for the last several years. More recently, I thought that the Nothing Phone 3a Pro was hideous (I stand by that). But what would I do if I were given a chance at the drawing board?
Though not for the same reasons as I’m alluding to, Nothing gives its loyal supporters the opportunity to redesign one of its phones. The first Community Edition Project took place last year, yielding the glow-in-the-dark Nothing Phone 2a Plus. This year, the second Community Edition Project will take place, though focusing on the Nothing Phone 3a this time (I like that phone’s aesthetic a lot more than its Pro variant).
You’ll have about a full month—from March 26th to April 23rd—to come up with a design. You can be a single person going at it, or you can put together your Nothing Avengers. Either way works. You can also choose to go about designing a new look for the phone, an exclusive accessory for the Community Edition, software and UI elements, or a creative and unique marketing campaign. Wherever your strengths lie, there’s something for you.
What’s the Community Edition Project Process Like?
So, let’s say that your interest has been piqued and you’d like to try your hand at this contest. You might be wondering what the structure of the project is like. Well, let’s dive into that so that you fully understand:
- The first thing you need to do is choose which brief you want to submit under. As mentioned earlier, there’s Hardware, Software, Accessory, and Marketing. Make sure to peruse the rules and requirements for your chosen brief.
- Once the deadline on April 23rd comes around, voting opens. Submissions will be scored by an internal jury, but the community does have the power to support their entries and make sure that the jury sees what’s got hype behind it.
- The juries for each brief will then choose a winner for each and make the announcement. Winning comes with a £1,000 cash prize.
- Over the following six months, the winning individuals and teams will work with one another and also the teams at Nothing, to make sure that their designs are polished and ready to come to life.
- After that, the device will be launched towards the end of the year, and the winners will all be invited to the launch event to see their creation be unveiled to the world!
If you’re a creative, besides the money, it might really be worth it. The Phone 2a Plus Community Edition won a Gold iF Design Award, so that’s definitely a cherry on top.
