A concept for a handheld retro gaming console that can be customized. After following the retro gaming console industry for a while, I've been amazed by the wide and diverse set of options out there. These come in different shapes and sizes which have slightly different button configurations and joystick options depending on the preferences of the unique subset of users that console is aimed at.

Rather than picking a console based on these preferences, what if you could customize the console to what you like instead? I recognized that this could be the key to capturing a wider demographic with just one device.

Above are some of the initial sketches where I was playing around with some general form factors but landed on the idea of a horizontal device where the analog sticks and D pad could be swapped out.

One of the benefits of designing hardware in Figma is that, although you're limited to Isometric views, you're actually able to play around with subtle styling tweaks like corner radii, and perceived volume / depth in a very fast and scrappy way. Below you can see a few of the explorations I was able to quickly make for the general profiles of the device.

The name comes from the greek god of shapeshifting, apt because of the devices customization abilities. A little pretentious, but also kinda cool, and when marketing a device towards a consumer target group that skews younger I felt like the cool factor couldn't be neglected. The logo mark is made of a single 'P' profile, which is filled with a radial gradient to develop a sharp edge.

Within Figma I componentized the various elements like the buttons and analog sticks, which made it really easy to test designs and iterate on them in situ without having to duplicate elements from scratch.

I wanted to design a variety of components that could be swapped out at the users will. Different joysticks, and d-pad buttons could be swapped out on the fly to allow more user customization.

I also took a moment to illustrate the controllers/consoles that the device would mainly aim to emulate. These are fairly easy for todays handheld technology and emulators to render, and each also hold a special place in my heart as devices that I know all too well from my childhood.

Those illustrations were incorporated into a UI that feels modern and paired back, allowing the consoles and games center stage.