[EXCLUSIVE] The Signature 27 is Motorola’s boldest look in years. I asked the design chief about its journey.

“I would encourage people to hold Signature 27 and experience the balance and comfort for themselves.”

That’s what Ruben Castano, VP of MBG Design, Brand & CX at Motorola, told me about the Motorola Signature 27’s unique design, spearheaded by a distinct top-heavy look.

That’s a pretty bold statement, especially for a device that costs as much as $1,600, more than even what the likes of Apple and Samsung charge for their most powerful smartphones. The Signature 27 is one of the most ambitious designs Motorola has attempted in years, and it stands out from the rest of the competition as well. In the Android segment, a healthy bunch of brands are now trying to ape the design language Apple introduced with the iPhone 17 Pro, or going with huge, round camera bumps.

When it comes to smartphone design, every millimeter matters, and there’s only so much flexibility in accommodating multiple camera sensors on the back of a phone while retaining a semblance of original design. With the Signature 27, Motorola has tried to do something different, and a lot more unique than what I’ve seen from smartphone brands in the past few years. It went with a top-heavy design, curved sides, a two-tone glossy look for the entire camera island, and then married it to a grippy, textured rear shell with a very prominent concave arch starting right at the base of the multi-lens bump.

Naturally, I had a lot of questions about how this design came to be. Let’s start with the ergonomics, because the top portion of the phone is pretty heavy. Motorola tells me it focused on providing a tactile connection by deliberately going with a prominent texture on the rear shell. More importantly, the company is fairly confident that this phone is not an ergonomic nightmare. Instead, it’s asking people to first hold the phone in their hand and notice how its weight balance dispels any doubts about using a top-heavy phone.

“The central concave surface and continuous transitions help create a comfortable grip while reducing the perceived prominence of the camera housing,” Castano tells me.

But that camera bump is more than just a design element engineered to attract attention. Motorola definitely succeeded at the eye-grabbing part, but Castano tells me that the large camera island is actually a statement about the device’s imaging chops. The Signature 27, after all, comes equipped with some of the most powerful camera sensors Motorola has ever put on a phone, spearheaded by a 200-megapixel periscope-style folded zoom camera, which makes it one of the most powerful zoom cameras on the market. Castano stresses that the camera system and the deliberate design around it highlight “the importance of imaging as a defining part of the premium smartphone experience.”

I was also curious about why Motorola kept its materials relatively restrained this time around, after years of experimenting with exotic finishes like wood grain on its smartphones. What about choices such as blending ceramic with lightweight, sturdy aluminum? Castano tells me that Motorola’s design team was very intentional about its material choices. The focus was not only on creating a distinct, highly durable design, but also on the smaller things, such as how the materials reflect light, how they feel to the touch, and how different materials can meet while still offering a seamless look.

Moving to the color options, of which there are only two, Motorola tells me the focus was on creating two complementary expressions that still appeal to very distinct tastes. The Pantone Capulet Olive shade, inspired by fashion and interiors, has a brushed textile finish with a softer, more understated look. The Pantone Coal Smoke variant, meanwhile, pairs with a Tactical Weave finish that draws inspiration from automotive design and performance materials, giving it a more technical character.

But did Motorola make any progress on ingress protection? If we go solely by the certification numbers, IP68 and IP69, the Signature 27 sits right at the top of the scale, offering the highest level of protection against dust and water in the industry. But there’s a lot more going on with the build than just a tight seal. Motorola says it picked materials such as aerospace-grade aluminum and Gorilla Glass Ceramic 3 to ensure that the device can stand the test of time. It add that the focus is on giving users more confidence when it comes to long-term ownership of a flagship phone.

I also asked Castano about serviceability and repairability, and whether the Motorola Signature 27 moves the needle on either front. The Motorola executive didn’t offer a technical breakdown, but he tells me both remain crucial considerations, and that the company continues to work closely with its engineering and service teams on these two fronts.

“We also recognize that creating thinner, more sophisticated devices with greater protection introduces challenges when it comes to servicing and repair,” he admits. You can read a condensed version of my interview with Ruben Castano, VP of MBG Design, Brand & CX at Motorola, below:

1. The Motorola Signature 27 is quite a stark departure from its predecessor and from other flagship Motorola phones launched in the past few years. What did the strategy on the drawing board look like for this one?

When we started working on Motorola Signature 27, we challenged ourselves to create something distinctive, a product you could recognize as Motorola without even seeing the logo.

We didn’t want to simply evolve an existing design or follow what others were doing. We wanted to establish our own point of view on what a premium smartphone should look and feel like.

That meant looking at the product as a complete experience, from its proportions and materials to the way it feels in your hand and the details you discover over time.

Great design requires creativity, passion for the craft, and the confidence to make deliberate choices. Motorola Signature 27 is an expression of that belief, bringing together advanced technology and a design language that feels both sophisticated and personal.

Ultimately, consumers will decide how they connect with the design, but what matters to us is that it reflects a clear vision and an honest expression of our work.

2. Motorola is also said to be using materials like ceramic and aircraft-grade metal on the Signature 27. What was the core reason behind choosing these materials? Was it to reduce weight, boost heat dissipation, or simply to improve the rigidity and strength of the device? Could you also shed some light on the use of ceramic- where and why it’s used– on Motorola’s new flagship?

Material selection is one of the most important parts of our design process because it influences both how a product performs and how people experience it.

With Motorola Signature 27, we wanted materials that bring together structural integrity, durability, and a sense of craftsmanship.

Aerospace-grade aluminum provides a strong, refined foundation, while ceramic introduces a different visual and tactile character, particularly in the camera plane, where it creates a beautiful contrast with brushed aluminum.

We were very intentional about these transitions. The way materials meet, reflect light and feel to the touch contributes to the overall character of the product.

And of course, those choices need to work in the real world. That’s why we combine this material approach with technologies such as Gorilla Glass Ceramic 3 and IP68/IP69 protection.

For us, premium isn’t about using expensive materials for their own sake. It’s about choosing the right materials and engineering them to create a better overall experience.

3. Regarding the design, what did Motorola have in mind when it went with a top-heavy design, where the camera island takes up at least a third of the phone’s upper half? 

One of the most recognizable elements of Motorola Signature 27 is its camera architecture. Instead of treating the camera system as a separate component attached to the back of the device, Motorola’s designers integrated it into the overall form.

This approach makes the camera system feel like a natural extension of the device rather than an afterthought. It also highlights the importance of imaging as a defining part of the premium smartphone experience. 

4. From the looks of it, users are definitely going to ask whether it feels top-heavy, and how the overall weight balance and ergonomics hold up. What kind of testing and design validation went into the ergonomic side of the design process?

It’s a fair question, particularly given how prominent the camera plane is visually.

But visual proportions and how a product actually feels in your hand are two different things.

We paid a great deal of attention to the overall balance, the curvature of the back, and how the device rests naturally in the palm. The central concave surface and continuous transitions help create a comfortable grip while reducing the perceived prominence of the camera housing.

The textures also play an important role, providing a more secure and tactile connection with the device.

Ultimately, ergonomics is something you experience rather than judge from an image. I would encourage people to hold Signature 27 and experience the balance and comfort for themselves.

5. Over the past few years, we’ve seen Motorola experiment with plenty of colors and exotic materials, from leather to wood to carbon fiber-inspired finishes. What was the thought process behind the Signature 27, specifically the choice of colors? Black is pretty understated, and green is quickly catching on across the industry. What sets the colors and textures on the Motorola Signature 27 apart?

Color, materials, and finishes have always been an important part of how we express Motorola’s design philosophy.

Through our longstanding collaboration with Pantone, we’ve developed a distinctive approach to CMF, where color and texture work together to create different personalities and experiences.

With Motorola Signature 27, we wanted two expressions that complement each other while appealing to different consumer preferences.

Pantone Coal Smoke has a more technical character. Paired with our Tactical Weave finish, it draws inspiration from automotive design and performance materials, bringing together strength, sophistication, and a tactile surface that feels secure in the hand.

Pantone Capulet Olive takes a different direction, inspired by fashion and interiors. Its brushed textile finish creates visual depth and a softer, more understated expression of premium.

What makes these finishes special isn’t simply the colors themselves, but how we’ve translated them into materials, textures, and details that invite people to touch and experience the product.

That’s an important part of our Lifestyle Tech philosophy: creating products that reflect different personalities and allow people to express their individuality.

6. I also want to touch on repairability. Smartphone design is getting increasingly sophisticated, and buyers are also asking more routinely about dust and water resistance on their phones. Where does the Motorola Signature 27 stand on ingress protection, and how does it balance that with repairability? Have any improvements been made, and where do you see this heading in the future?

Durability and repairability are both important parts of the long-term ownership experience, and they need to be considered together.

With Motorola Signature 27, we’ve invested in making a beautiful product that consumers can use with confidence every day. That includes Gorilla Glass Ceramic 3, aerospace-grade aluminum, IP68 and IP69 protection, and engineering designed to meet demanding durability standards.

But we also recognize that creating thinner, more sophisticated devices with greater protection introduces challenges when it comes to servicing and repair.

Our responsibility is to balance these requirements thoughtfully, considering not only how the product looks and performs when it’s new, but also its durability, serviceability, and overall lifecycle.

It’s an area where we continue to work closely with our engineering and service teams, because premium should also mean confidence in long-term ownership.