Sarah Clarity Studios

Chapter 1: Phones, Tablets, Terminals — Bezels, Ports, Thermal Logic

Created by Sarah Choi (prompt writer using ChatGPT)

Phones, Tablets, Terminals — Bezels, Ports, Thermal Logic (Tech & Devices)

Handheld and tabletop devices are some of the most camera-visible props in any project. For prop concept artists, phones, tablets, and terminals are not just screens; they’re assemblies with bezels, ports, antennas, sensors, batteries, and thermal paths that must read instantly from a mid-shot. This article treats them as physical systems first and UI surfaces second, equally aimed at concept-side ideation and production-side handoff.

A credible device starts with a believable envelope. Phones live between 65–80 mm wide to fit the thumb arc; tablets span 180–220 mm for one-hand grip or two-hand bezel support; terminals scale from small countertop housings to VESA-mounted kiosks. The silhouette carries your doctrine: soft, pocketable radii signal consumer; hard chamfers and overmold bumpers read as industrial. For production, define a fillet stack (outer radius, edge break, chamfer) so highlights behave predictably across variants.

Bezels are structural, not just fashion. Ultra-thin bezels look premium but reduce torsional stiffness and drop survival—add micro-lips or subtly thicker corners to communicate durability. Rugged devices push bezels outward with elastomer overmolds, raised speaker grilles, and screw bosses that visually tie front glass to a back plate. Fantasy or sci‑fi skins can keep the same logic with different skins: stone or wood frames become thick bezels; energy shields imply raised edges or cradle frames. When you break the bezel for speakers, mics, or sensors, keep symmetry or an intentional asymmetry that reflects true placement, not random perforation.

Ports are the device’s handshake with the world. Phones today consolidate into USB‑C or equivalent; tablets add pogo-pin docks, microSD or SIM trays; terminals keep legacy I/O—RJ45, RS‑232, USB‑A—for peripherals and PoS hardware. Port cues include bevelled inlets, ESD marks, and gasket lips. Water resistance implies covered ports (hinged seals), internal ribs, and fastener count that suggests clamping pressure along a perimeter gasket. In production callouts, note port recess depth, draft angles, and keep-out zones so cables don’t intersect geometry. If your world favors magnetic power (qi/magsafe analogs), show coil rings as subtle embosses and alignment nubs that justify snap precision.

Thermal logic makes devices feel alive. Phones and tablets dissipate heat through graphite heat spreaders and vapor chambers bonded under the SoC and around the camera; they use the mid-frame as a heat sink and the front glass as a radiator. Express this diegetically: thin metal mid-frames with break lines, a cooler strip near the SoC, or a color-shift decal that reads “thermo sticker.” Terminals have space for real sinks and sometimes fans; show fin stacks with dust grilles, intake vs exhaust directionality, and a serviceable path to filters. If your design includes high-draw radios or compute (AR, lidar, mmWave), give them clearance from the palm zone and show thermal isolation features like polymer antenna windows or ceramic caps.

Antenna placement is a geometry puzzle: metal equals shield. Modern phones hide antenna windows as plastic or glass bridges in the frame; tablets use polymer bands or non-conductive corners. Terminals may expose whip or paddle antennas for range. Sell this with seam logic: tiny breaks in the frame, color-shifted inlays, or radiused islands around buttons. In-world variants can signal class through antenna tech—baseline devices show thicker windows; elite devices reduce lines or shift to ceramic.

The camera island is a material stack. Sensors plus OIS/shock frames need height; flashes and ToF/LiDAR need windows; the cover glass must be separate from the main lens to avoid stress. Communicate the stack with a step-up: housing → lens bezel ring → protective glass. Periscope lenses demand a rectangular slot; macro or thermal sensors take distinctive apertures. Wear evolves here: micro scratches on protective glass, lint rings around bezels, finger oil halos next to the island. Production should separate these as overlays so lookdev can tune usage states.

Speakers, mics, and haptics anchor tactility. Phone speakers usually fire downward or sideward with long micro-perf slots; tablets use symmetrical stereo bars; terminals can justify large grilles with visible screw posts for service. Microphone pinholes cluster near ports and camera for noise cancellation—space them with a believable baseline (e.g., 8–12 mm). Haptics imply internal mass blocks—a central ridge or thicker mid-frame sells inertia. When the device is rugged, add acoustic membranes and label them with tiny water-drop icons to hint IP rating.

Buttons and switches are human honesty. Power and volume toggles need travel; knurled textures on rugged builds signal grip with gloves. Mute sliders or function rockers are storytelling anchors—very readable at mid shot. In sci‑fi variants, substitute capacitive ribs with a micro light-pulse on touch, but keep a physical notch or braille dot for blind-find. Production should specify actuation “zones” and decal alignment keys for animation and FX.

Batteries are the quiet bulk. Phones and tablets center them as flat pouches under the glass; terminals often use modular packs. Show battery logic without opening the shell: slightly thicker mid-frame, vent symbols, or a captive screw door with polarity iconography. Hot‑swap terminals need finger scoops and latch gates; consumer slabs hide it all but may show pinhole reset or safety glyphs. If your world includes energy exotics, keep mass where physics demands—large energy storage still costs volume—and ensure a thermal path to air or structure.

Sensors turn a slab into a device. Fronts need a proximity/ambient cluster and front camera; backs may add barometers, IR, lidar, thermal, or biosensors. Keep sensors near edge or island to minimize occlusion by the hand. For comms and wearables, add NFC marks, UWB windows, or contact pads. In fantasy reskins, translate sensors into analogous runes, crystals, or sigil studs placed where real sensors would live—function first, motif second.

Displays are more than glass. OLED edges curve; LTPO implies variable refresh and often a thin driver chin. Rugged devices keep flat glass with a slight step to accept sacrificial protectors. If your UI needs outdoor legibility, add anti-glare micro-etch and a polarized sheen at oblique angles. Production should reserve emissive IDs for UI vs status LEDs, and define moiré-safe densities for screen textures.

Wearables bring anatomy into the design equation. Smartwatches need lug geometry matching common strap standards, quick-release pins, and underside sensor domes (PPG/SpO2) that sit proud to guarantee skin contact. Earbuds and comms loops require clear left/right cues, charge pogo pads, and silicone fins that read as fit logic. AR glasses integrate cameras, waveguides, and batteries into a balanced temple; show thickness bias toward battery side and a tiny heat vent at the hinge. Cable management matters—strain reliefs, swivel joints, and clips must be readable.

Comms hardware needs ritual. Field tablets with PTT (push-to-talk) get side paddles and big gloveable nubs; bodycams need positive latch mounts and lens shrouds; sat-phone variants want stub or helical antennas and thick gasket doors. Even when “futuristic,” keep the ritual: extend antenna, acquire link (LEDs or tiny OLED), speak into the mic, monitor signal meter. The prop is the manual.

Terminals are furniture-grade devices. Kiosks and HMIs (human–machine interfaces) must justify permanence: VESA patterns, cable raceways, and service hatches. Thermal paths get real: fans, fins, and plenum gaps under a canopy. Public terminals require vandal-resistant bezels, shatter films, and recessed ports. Retail/PoS variants integrate printers (paper exits, tear bars), barcode imagers (angled windows), cash drawers (keyed locks), and tap/pay zones (NFC targets). Production should block out the internal air volume so sound and light FX have space to “live.”

Mounting and ecosystems sell provenance. Phones ride in cases with branded knurl patterns and lanyard loops; tablets dock to keyboard folios with POGO strips; terminals sit on articulating arms with internal cable routing. If you show a mount, trace power and data: a magnetic dock needs coil icons; a wired cradle needs strain-relieved tails and tie-downs. Articulation reads through hinge spacing and stop features—hard detents for industrial, soft friction for consumer.

Ingress and survivability are story levers. IP ratings translate into visible features: deep-set gaskets, double-lip seams, drain notches, mesh membranes, and more screws than pretty devices use. Dusty worlds earn mesh plugs and sacrificial covers; wet worlds earn latch doors and “dry me” iconography. In production, distribute grime logically: oily thumb arcs near buttons, pocket lint around ports, micro-dings on bezel high points, and spiderweb scratches on polymer windows rather than glass.

Security and identity integrate seamlessly. Biometric readers (under-glass, side-capacitive, rear-capacitive) demand clear affordance rings and alignment cues. Enterprise tablets add smart-card slots; terminals have sealed PIN pads with tamper mesh underlays. If your fiction uses tokens or sigils, give them reader windows or keyed slots and pair them with status LEDs to teach the user when the check passed.

UI and hardware must cohere. The home of status LEDs should be consistent with notifications; microphones should sit where a user would speak; charging indicators should be visible even when docked. Show on-device labels sparingly: port icons, safety glyphs, and regulatory marks can be micro-etched along the back edge. Use one icon set throughout the device family and repeat it on accessories.

Production-side deliverables should include orthos with precise section profiles, exploded views for screws/gaskets/frames, and decal maps with scale bars. Provide shader notes: glass IOR, AR coating hue, polymer micrograin, brushed anodize flow, and fingerprint roughness overrides for interaction zones. Include FX beats: notification pulse at 1 Hz, PTT latch click, thermal fan curve triggers, and camera OIS settling wobble. Add “service state” variants—open port doors, removed battery covers, popped SIM trays—so animators can tell maintenance stories.

For concept-side exploration, iterate families. Define one shared mid-frame language (a signature notch, a stepped chamfer, a screw pattern) and scale it across phone, tablet, and terminal. Build variants across factions: corporate minimal with hidden antennas and bonded glass; frontier rugged with bolts, overmold, and milled ribs; ceremonial tech with inlaid materials and mechanical shutters over sensors. Keep the thermal, antenna, and port logic intact beneath the skin.

If the device reads true at a glance—where you hold it, how it breathes, and how it speaks to other hardware—your tech props will feel usable before a single UI pixel turns on. Treat bezels as bones, ports as joints, and thermal paths as blood flow, and the rest of your design will fall into place.