But designing the Pixel, as the phone would be called, would be like creating a phone for Goldilocks.

Google was ready for more.

Since 2010, the tech giant teamed up with companies such as Samsung, LG and Motorola to create phones that would serve as marquee devices for its mobile operating system, Android. Known as Nexus phones, they ran the newest Android version available at the time, in hardware built and branded by these other companies.

But after launching the Nexus 6P with Huawei five years later, Google flipped the script. It decided to make a new phone without any outside partnerships. Another company would still assemble the device (a task that HTC picked up), but Google alone would engineer, design and sell it.

Designing the Pixel, as the phone would be called, however, would be like creating a phone for Goldilocks. It had to have premium hardware without compromising its style. It had to appeal to the masses without turning its back on the loyalists. And it needed to visually differentiate itself without coming off as too gimmicky. In other words, it had to look just right.