Prototypes confirm that the Google Pixel 4 could have looked dramatically different

Google released the Pixel 4 series in three colours, but a recent prototype confirmed that the company had developed at least one more colour. Now, the Google Industrial Design Team has offered "a look at the making of Google Pixel 4". Published by Abduzeedo and Arthur Kenzo, the photos show that Google went through multiple prototypes before settling on the design of the Pixel 4. Kenzo describes that the Pixel 4 was:

...designed to be soft in the hand and approachable, human. The form has been carefully sculpted out of aluminum and curved Gorilla Glass 5. Pixel 4 design is confidently different, approachable and simple. The sophisticated yet fresh approach to materials, colors and finishes is uniquely Google.

As the photos below demonstrate, Google toyed with different rear-facing camera arrangements until quite late into the series' development process. Additionally, multiple volume and power button layouts were prototyped, as was seemingly the possibility of abandoning buttons altogether.

Moreover, the photos offer a glimpse at the volume of colour combinations that Google considered for the Pixel 4 and Pixel 4 XL. From what we can see, pink, peach, light blue, dark blue were all prototyped among other colours, as was an all-white model. It seems that Google designed a two-tone orange version too.

What looks like a silicone case is also present in multiple photos. The fabric cases that Google ended up releasing are dotted around in the images, so we would be interested to know why Google dropped the purple silicone case.

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