Dezeen promotion: a vibrant rainforest, a personalised flower made by an algorithm and a screen that changes in social situations are among the finalists in the Samsung Mobile Design Competition wallpaper category, revealed today.
Five designs have been selected as finalists in the competition's Next Mobile Wallpaper Paradigm category, which sought new wallpaper designs for Galaxy devices. Entrants were encouraged to incorporate features such as interactivity and contextual awareness.
The Samsung Mobile Design Competition is a global contest, and the top five designs in the wallpaper category have come from Cambodia, Malaysia, Côte d'Ivoire, Finland and Portugal.
"The contest attracted a lot of young millennial designers and creators from a wide range of backgrounds," said Samsung.
With $40,000 in prize money up for grabs, each of the finalists will now have the opportunity to present their ideas in London on 25 September before a jury including designers Stefan Scholten and Paul Austin, executives from Samsung's IT and Mobile Communications division, and Dezeen editor-at-large Amy Frearson.
The jury will choose the category's top three winners, who will be invited to travel to the Samsung Developer Conference from 29 to 30 October in San Jose, USA, for the prize-giving ceremony, where mock-ups of all of the finalists' works will be on display.
A second section of the competition, the Next Mobile + category, focused on product design in the form of accessories for Samsung devices. The top five in that category were announced on Dezeen earlier today.
Each of the finalists will receive prize money of $1,000 each, with $10,000 going to the winner, $5,000 to the runner-up and $3,000 to the third place-getter.
Read about the top five designs below:
Approachability of Galaxy by Andre Cardoso
Portugal
Andre Cardoso's wallpaper changes when multiple Samsung Galaxy devices are close, with the colours from one permeating into the other until, eventually, they show the same hue. "Nowadays, physical interaction between technology users is increasingly scarce," said Cardoso. "Social interaction can take place when something special but unexpected happens."
Blossom of Galaxy by Guan Hong Yeoh
Malaysia
Blossom of Galaxy is a responsive design that changes with the time of the day. "It manifests new experiences of being engaged with natural elements, and brings the invisible nature into the magic of Galaxy," said designer Guan Hong Yeoh.
Garden of Galaxy by Kalle Järvenpää
Finland
Kalle Järvenpää imagines that each Galaxy device comes with a "seed from which a unique flower sprouts". The flowers are algorithmically generated based on randomly generated "genes" as well as contextual factors like the environment, and they grow slowly, encouraging the user to cherish them when they are in bloom.
Photosynthesis of Galaxy by Panharith Ean
Cambodia
Photosynthesis of Galaxy brings the tropical rainforest of Guadeloupe to Samsung devices, with a background whose hues change colour from dawn through midday, dusk and to night. The background is dynamic, as the plants move in a rhythm of their own as well as in response to how the user is holding the device.
Subtle Wallpaper of Galaxy by Soufungoward Coulibaly and Alexandre Tako
Côte d'Ivoire
Soufungoward Coulibaly and Alexandre Tako's design is "halfway between animated wallpaper and static wallpaper". The minimalist design changes discreetly so as not to distract the user, and comes in a light and dark mode.