Nokia Design Archive — explore the ideas that shaped our world

Over twenty years of design history, now open to all.

A vintage mobile phone with a retractable antenna on a green background with dappled light patterns.

The Nokia Design Archive contains the visions that transformed how we connect. Through never-before-seen sketches, photographs, videos and interviews spanning from the mid 90s to 2017, online visitors can access the inner-workings of Nokia Mobile Phones to learn how design ideas shaped our world.
 
Freely accessible to all beginning 15 January 2025, the Nokia Design Archive's digital portal is brought to you by Aalto University in Finland. It has been made possible by donations from Microsoft Mobile Oy and designers.

Click here for information on using content from the archive.

Nokia Design Archive
Enter the archive

Starting points

A white flip phone with a screen open lies on a sparkling red sequined fabric.

The visions that shaped us: Nokia Design Archive opens to the public online

Opening the door to two decades of Nokia’s inner workings, a new online portal brings never-before-seen material to the public.

News
Two mobile phones in plastic bags on bubble wrap and a torn cardboard box, notepad, pencil, and ruler on a purple surface.

“Left outside in the rain”: The story behind the stories of the Nokia Design Archive

In a strange twist of fate, a team of Aalto University researchers found themselves responsible for two decades of Nokia’s best kept design secrets.

News
A collection of various old mobile phones laid out on a wooden surface.

How Nokia changed the world

Much has been said about the fall of Nokia, but what can we learn from its successes?

News

When we started the project, the focus was on objects. As we began going through the material, we soon realised that it was about people.

Kaisu Savola, Design Historian

Our picks from the Nokia Design Archive

    Five Nokia mobile phones in black, blue, green, red, and yellow are displayed against a blue and white background.

    Image of Nokia 5110 in five different colours. 1990s. Nokia Design Archive, Aalto University Archives, https://repo.aalto.fi/uncategorized/IO_19961f28-e5a7-4571-a248-90d77344971c/

    Sketches of a sleek car and mobile phone design with a focus on streamlined shape and indicator lights.

    Dale Frye and Jeff Deacon, sketches and notes for a clamshell phone, 1996. Nokia Design Archive, Aalto University Archives, https://repo.aalto.fi/uncategorized/IO_77af8d54-3ef7-48d3-9619-4ec043e3cf44/

    A dual-screen Nokia device displaying a movie scene with two silver-haired characters fighting in a garage.

    Metallic and white model for a multimedia device with UI design and a screenshot of the movie Matrix. Nokia Design Archive, Aalto University Archives, https://repo.aalto.fi/uncategorized/IO_8e43b98a-075f-471e-88d8-706b8028b8e6/

    A hand-drawn Nokia design sketch showing rectangles and X-shapes with interior line structures and perspectives.

    Rhys Newman, sketches of phones based on architectural elements, 2002. Nokia Design Archive, Aalto University Archives, https://repo.aalto.fi/uncategorized/IO_9e1864c5-408f-4fb8-9998-ea3e80960665/

    A smart watch with a black extended strap displaying various apps and notifications on the screen and strap.

    Apaar Tuli, rendering of a smart watch. 2014. Nokia Design Archive, Aalto University Archives, https://repo.aalto.fi/uncategorized/IO_42d73c16-6e75-4173-9628-31b3252358e8/

    Two people, one in a red outfit, holding a phone, are posing closely together on a brightly lit street at night.

    Promotional material from the 1990s. Nokia Design Archive, Aalto University Archives,  https://repo.aalto.fi/uncategorized/IO_31a6367b-c539-4812-b0d6-38e4095e19ce/

    Two men sitting by a tennis court, one on the phone, the other holding a racket, with a water bottle and towel.

    Promotional material from the 1990s. Nokia Design Archive, Aalto University Archives, https://repo.aalto.fi/uncategorized/IO_ba0e63a4-6dee-4783-8389-763ba9c15c61/

    A mobile phone with leather decorations

    Nokia 7600, 'Mango' 4. 2003. Nokia Design Archive, Aalto University Archives, https://repo.aalto.fi/uncategorized/IO_d6bd22ab-a2a1-46d5-8634-77abce2eaa0c/

    A green, flexible electronic device with a semi-circular shape and a white circular holder.

    Image, 'Morph' concept, undated. Nokia Design Archive, Aalto University Archives, https://repo.aalto.fi/uncategorized/IO_35687268-3fde-4493-a0fd-e3609d404b03/

    A group of people in a meeting room with technical drawings on the walls. Papers and materials are spread on the table.

    Image of Nokia designers sitting by a table in front of phone sketches. Blitz workshop. Anna Valtonen, Jouko Tattari, Eero Miettinen, Ilkka Husgafvel. 1998. Nokia Design Archive, Aalto University Archives, https://repo.aalto.fi/uncategorized/IO_ff832532-661f-4d11-8ebe-5cb5fb841689/

    Glass display case shaped like a house with mobile phones on small chairs. Background shows an old wall and a fireplace.

    Photograph from the Collection L'Amour launch event in Florence. Photographer Valerie Pegon. 2005. Nokia Design Archive, Aalto University Archives, https://repo.aalto.fi/uncategorized/IO_e9635925-8ae4-4689-a37a-b2f4e1ac9a33/

    A diagram showing interconnected futuristic devices: a wristband, a stylus pen, a projector, a purse, and another pen.

    Sketches, 'Elements: Blitz'. Undated. Nokia Design Archive, Aalto University Archives, https://repo.aalto.fi/uncategorized/IO_ef4013b5-b8c7-434c-a072-46e4abfdb30f/

    We care about your privacy.

    You have not yet given permission to place the required cookies from YouTube.com. Accept the required cookies to view this content.

    It reminds us that we do have agency and we can shape our world — by revealing the work of many people who did just that.

    Anna Valtonen, Lead Researcher on the Nokia Design Archive

    Nokia Design Archive has been made possible by donations from Microsoft Mobile Oy and by funding from The Research Council of Finland and the Kaute Foundation.

    Resources for media and researchers –– Nokia Design Archive

    Media images and info on usage, contact information and the latest news on the Archive — find it all here.

    Read more
    Five vintage Nokia mobile phones on white pedestals with a yellow background and geometric light patterns.

    Aalto University

    Aalto University is where science and art meet technology and business. We shape a sustainable future by making research breakthroughs in and across our disciplines, sparking the game changers of tomorrow and creating novel solutions to major global challenges. By merging three leading Finnish universities in 2010, Aalto was founded to work as a societally embedded research university. In a short space of time, we have since become a forerunner in our key areas. We are renowned for our sense of community and culture of entrepreneurship and innovation.

    Read more
    Aalto University students at Aalto Party during the opening of the Academic Year. Photo by Aalto University / Aino Huovio
    • Published:
    • Updated: