Hasta La Ideas

Stockholm studio Humans Since 1982 has combined 288 analogue clocks to create an installation of shifting monochrome patterns, lettering and numbers (+ movie).

Called A Million Times, the piece by Humans Since 1982 for Victor Hunt Designart Dealer features 576 motors to drive each minute and hour hand independently.

The patterns created by the rotating black hands against the white clock faces are controlled via customised software on an iPad.

This piece follows on from the designers’ Clock Clock project from 2009, which used 24 analogue clocks to spell out the time like a digital display.

“With this installation, Humans since 1982 finalised the clock projects and their escape from a solely pragmatic existence,” says Victor Hunt.

“Locked in its functionality to show the time, the natural character inherent to an analogue clock – with its two arms constantly dancing in slow motion around the center – unveils hidden figurative qualities without denying its primary purpose.”

The new piece will be presented at Design Days Dubai from 18 to 22 March 2013.

Humans Since 1982 was founded by Per Emanuelsson of Sweden and Bastian Bischoff of Germany in 2008 while they were studying at Högskolan för Design och Konsthantverk (HDK) in Gothenburg, Sweden. Their other projects include a lounger that incorporates a crucifix and a hair clip with eyes on to make the wearer look like they’re standing the other way round and wearing a niqāb headdress. See all work by Humans Since 1982.

Based in Brussels, Victor Hunt represents young designers including Tom Price, Kwangho Lee and Maarten De Ceulaer. We also ran a series of movies the gallery made about the processes behind the design pieces it promotes, called Tales of the Hunt. See all our stories about design at Victor Hunt Designart Dealer.

Other unusual clocks on Dezeen include a film of two men with brooms pushing debris to form moving clock hands by Maarten Baas and another that only tells the time when you feel its face. See all clock designs.

Credits:

Designer and producer: Humans since 1982
Engineering: David Cox
Editor: Victor Hunt Designart Dealer
Dimension of installation: 344cm x 180cm x 5cm
Number of single clocks: 288
Number of installed motors: 576
Material: aluminium + electric components
Electricity: standard 100-240V, 50-60Hz socket
Operation system: customized software to be controlled via iPad
Finish: powder coated white + black hands, screen printed dials

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Humans Since 1982 appeared first on Dezeen.

News: Apple has agreed to pay Swiss railway operator SBB an undisclosed amount for copying its trademark station clock design (above) in the new iPad, reports Bloomberg.

SBB announced the deal on its website after earlier threatening to sue the technology giant over the use of the clock in iOS 6, the operating system that comes with the latest iPad (below). The companies agreed not to disclose the fee. SBB had said last month that while its rights to the design had been infringed, it was “proud” Apple had used the clock.

Designed by Zurich-born engineer Hans Hilfiker in 1944 and still trademarked by Swiss national railways, the clock has a recognisable red second hand in the shape of a railway guard’s signalling disc.

Earlier this year Apple won a major legal victory when a U.S. court found Samsung had copied features of the iPad and iPhone. Dezeen had previously reported a British court’s decision that Samsung had not unlawfully copied Apple’s designs, judging that the South Korean company’s tablet computers were “not as cool” as its rival’s products.

See all our stories about Apple »
See all our stories about clocks »

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operator’s clock design – Bloomberg appeared first on Dezeen.

Czech studio Kibardindesign have created a 3D version of a digital clock face.

The White & White Clock comprises four seven-segment display digits, like those on an LCD screen, mounted across a central control panel.

A sensor adjusts the brightness of the LED digits depending on the intensity of the light around them, so the time glows brightly to stand out in a sunny spot but less intensely when the lights are dimmed at bed time.

The clock can be used freestanding or mounted on a wall.

We recently featured a digital clock based on a basketball scoreboard.

See all our stories about clocks »

Here’s a description from the designers:

The White & White Clock designed by Vadim Kibardin is a modern 3D interpretation of the traditional digital clock.

Digital wall/desk white LED clock with white frame digits. Nothing else, simply time. White & White Clock is a clock with an alarm and time display mode 24 hour. In dark hours the light sensitive sensor changes the brightness of the digits to a less intense white. The power supply is conducted through a general mains-operated adaptor that suits any kinds of sockets.

A publication of the Black & White clock design preceded the appearance of the White & White clock. The Black & White clock aroused a huge interest in the public. We decided to postpone the batch production of the Black & White modification after detailed research of the production prototypes and to concentrate on the new model White & White.

During the working process the ideal technical and constructive solutions were found. They comply with all the functional and esthetic requirements and make this model available for mainstream customers.

Model: desk/wall digital LED clock with light controller
Design: Vadim Kibardin 2010
Colour: white
Functions: alarm, date, time
Power Supply: universal AC adapter, input 100-240V, output DC9V (The clock only works with mains electricity, however battery should be installed to maintain the time in case of mains power outages.)
Battery: CR2032
Case material: ABS plastic
Dimensions: W285mm x D35mm x H110mm
Weight: 400g
Manufacturing: China
Status: available for pre-sale

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by Kibardindesign appeared first on Dezeen.

A showdown of heritage alarm clocks

This past year saw the relaunch of a slew of throw-back designs to the so-called golden age of Braun. Joining the analog clocks and minimal wristwatches is a line of digital clocks inspired by the clean look favored by designers Dietrich Lubs and Dieter Rams. Seen side-by-side, both the analog and digital options are enviable design objects, but we imagine two camps must form around the digital and the analog.

Sizing up the two lines, there’s a lot of crossover: both are controlled by radio signal available in select countries; both feature a crescendo alarm and a snooze function; both are designed to be easily read; both light up in the dark. In short, they have all the specs you might expect from a classically reliable alarm clock.

The digital line features a quick-set function and a crisp reverse LCD readout. The radio model—not available in analog—also includes a speaker and six presets for a standard alarm-clock setup. On the analog side, the classic alarm has been updated with a voice-activated snooze feature for groaning sleepers. While the digital models do their best to imitate the original designs, there’s something gimmicky about an alarm clock that is made to look “vintage”. The analog models have a more honest heritage appeal, and the readout the only major difference. Points would be given to digital for ease of use, although the spare face of the analog clock isn’t exactly difficult to read.

At the end of the day, it’s a matter of personal taste. While the new digital clocks may be milking the last ounce of cool out of the Rams and Lubs heritage, we’re still won over by the sleek look, which was developed under the direction of Markus Orthey. For fans of the old-school vibe, it makes a bit more sense to search around for the original and iconic AB1 alarm clock, which can be found around the web in limited stock. We’re not sure why Braun opted not to recreate a perfect facsimile of the original with the new analogs; it seems like authenticity would trump voice-controlled snooze any day.

Whichever way you swing, both the digital and analog models look great on a nightstand—which, after all, is what you’re really after.

Seven unconventional clocks that tell more than time

Our pace and focus on the short-term these days seems to have surpassed the steady tick-tock of time passing. Groups like The Long Now Foundation aim to counteract this phenomenon by encouraging long-term thinking. To foster this world view—time as a series of years, one lined up after another and 10,000 more after that till infinity—computer scientist Danny Hillis proposed a monumental timepiece that “ticks once a year, bongs once a century, and the cuckoo comes out every millennium.” The latest version of this 10,000 Year Clock (currently under construction) will rest inside a Texas mountain, intermittently ringing out original chimes, both heard and unheard, for a stretch of time you must bend your mind to conceive. Below are six other designs for clever clocks with mind-altering concepts about time and time-telling.

Rather than focusing on the future, Scott Thrift, founder of Brooklyn’s creative company m ss ng p eces (and original Cool-Hunting-Video-maker), has devised an annual clock, The Present. “It’s the gift we give ourselves,” he puns. The clock, currently in development, tells the time of year, tracking changing seasons with a single gradient hand that moves across the vibrant color wheel face. Each color denotes one of the four seasons (green as spring, yellow for summer, red for fall and blue for winter) and blends seamlessly from one to the next, poetically mimicking the way the seasons gradually shift.

The Flow of Time also relies on gradients to track time. Conceived by Korean designer Byung Min Kim, the timepiece replaces conventional hands with a grayscale swatch that rotates around the face. The dark end marks the hour as the minutes vaguely sweep behind. The indistinct clock poses freedom from “all the unnecessary things,” including time constraints.

Drawing attention to the irrevocable tie between the passage of time and aging, the Life Clock by French artist Bertrand Planes measures lifespan. Though ordinary in appearance, the Life Clock ticks at such a painstaking pace that each hatch represents a single year up to 80.

Unlike standard clocks based on abstract conventions of time, Italian architect Andrea Ponsi‘s Solar Image Clock conveys time in terms of the cosmos. Representative of the sun, the red dot undulates above and below the clock’s horizon line to depict not only the sun’s exact position in the sky, but also the time of day.

Another design based on the position of the sun, Morning Glory by Wendy Legro of the Rotterdam-based Studio WM marks daytime and nighttime. The solar-powered fixture shrinks during the day to allow natural sunlight indoors, blossoming at night to emit light. Not only is the mechanical flower aesthetically pleasing with its delicate structure—whether hung alone or in a tight cluster—Morning Glory also provides healthful benefits due to its sensitivity to our biological clocks.

Often mistaken for a stock market tracker, the Union Square Metronome by artist duo Kristin Jones and Andrew Ginzel is in fact a public art installation that explores notions about time. From the LED screen which displays various time conventions and the slab of bedrock that reflects the earth’s massive geological history to the bronze cone representing perspective and the rotating sphere that tracks the cosmos, the Metronome encompasses practically every method of time-telling. This amalgam of measurements provides various perspectives on time, paradoxically including both regularity and ephemerality.