According to various reports and rumours, Facebook is planning to develop its very own smartphone and the company has already begun to recruit a number of hardware engineers, including former Apple employees, to work on the device which could be launched as early as next year.

While no details of the phone or an official launch date have been confirmed by Facebook, a concept of what the phone could look like, designed by Michal Bonikowski, was featured on tech website Yanko Design.

In the concept, the phone, made from metal, features a Facebook signature blue case,  5-megapixel camera in the front and an 8-megapixel rear-facing camera, a 4.2 inch display and an optional inductive charging dock.

This is not the first time an artist has taken to designing his own version of an upcoming smartphone. In February, after analysing the various iPhone 5 rumours, Italian designer Federico Ciccares created renderings of the device. 

View images of the Facebook concept phone below: