Frank Nuovo to leave as Nokia's head of design

After getting profiled in the Wall Street Journal last August as he attempted to turn Nokia's design fortunes around, Frank Nuovo, Nokia's head of design, is reported to be leaving the company according to an article from Reuters.com. Nuovo, who was with Nokia for the past 16 years, will be succeeded by "Alastair Curtis, who is currently in charge of design in the unit that produces Nokia's lowest-cost handsets."

According to Nokia, "Nuovo, who has been called the "Calvin Klein of cellular communication," will continue in a consulting role and stay as principal designer at Vertu, its luxury phone brand." After taking a hit in 2004 for its staid designs, Nokia has been making a comeback of sorts by "adding "clamshell" and slider-type phones," but still is being outdone byMotorola's Razr success.

Yankee Group analyst John Jackson"The hallmark (of Nokia's designs) has been consistency. There's really nothing over the top or flashy about it. It's about simplicity and ease of use. If Nokia is consistency, Motorola is cutting-edge hip."