clocks

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Design Music

OneClock: A Modern Take on the Analog Alarm Never Plays the Same Melody Twice

Say goodbye to the days of being jarred awake by the alarm blaring from your iPhone. The creative team over at OneClock designed a streamlined device with the intention of rousing people in a more peaceful manner, one with soothing melodies that are in stark contrast to the startling sounds many of us hear every morning.

Minimal in aesthetic, the analog alarm is outfitted with more than 20 instrumental and vocal compositions created by musician Jon Natchez, a Grammy-award-winning artist who’s known for his work with The War on Drugs. Each of the sequences focuses on the tones, tempos, and frequencies most likely to wake even the groggiest sleeper. When it’s time to get up, the melodies gradually swell in volume. An AI music generator remixes a new composition each morning to stave off alarm fatigue, meaning that it never plays the same tune twice. OneClock also won’t allow snoozing, but it does emit music for about 20 minutes, giving drowsy folks a little extra time.

Although you’d probably be hard-pressed to find someone who agrees with OneClock that “sleep is great, but waking up is better,” the project is already is fully backed on Kickstarter with just more than two weeks to go. The retro, low-tech design, which features a built-in nightlight, currently is available in four colors and has a white oak front. Follow updates on its official launch on Instagram and its site. (via swissmiss)

 

Art

Human-Powered Clocks by Maarten Baas Physically Mark the Passage of Time

Dutch artist Maarten Baas produces artworks that lie at the intersection of visual art, performance, and design, creating manual clocks that are erased and redrawn on the stroke of each minute. In pieces like Grandfather Clock and Schiphol Clock Baas places himself within the structure of the time-telling devices, functioning as the works’ human mechanism. Other pieces from his Real Time series use the assistance of another performer to create 12-hour films, such as a line of perpetually swept trash doubling as a clock arm. Baas began the time-based series in 2009 at the Salone Del Mobile in Milan, Italy, and has a current piece in the group exhibition Design by Time at the Pratt Institute through April 13, 2019. You can see more of his works on his website, Instagram, and Vimeo, and in the videos below.

 

Design

Solstice: A Wooden Kinetic Clock Expands and Contracts with the Passing Hours

Solstice is a shape-shifting wooden clock designed by Matt Gilbert of the London-based studio Animaro. The new interior design object presents different configurations throughout the day, expanding to its widest form at noon when the sun is at its highest point, and contracting at 6 PM when the sun is near its lowest. This meditative movement was inspired by nature, specifically how a flower expands its petals to absorb more sunlight. The clock also is a return to our time-based roots, as its design has users rely on its shape and pattern much like we would a sundial.

The clock has two settings, one that completes a rotation every 60 seconds, and one that completes a rotation during a 12-hours cycle. To switch between the two modes, the user taps on a sensor located on the bottom of the clock. The Solstice clock is currently available for pre-order on Kickstarter. The crowdfunding campaign runs through December 13, 2018. You can see more of Animaro’s previous designs on their website and Instagram. (via Colossal Submissions)

Design

Japanese Design Studio Turns Traditional Cuckoo Clocks on Their Head With Three Minimal Designs

Japanese design studio Nendo has turned the cuckoo clock on its head with three modern versions of the traditionally German-crafted object designed for clock company Lemnos. The minimal designs combine naturally finished wood with white painted faces, and each include a motorized bird that pops from the bottom, top, or side of the straight-edged works.

Nendo’s bookend design splits the clock’s face so the two parts of the piece can nestle around one or several books. The tilted version is shifted to rest on its roof rather than base, and the dented clock is carved from a single block with its negative space forming the same birdhouse shape of the other works. You can see more objects by Nendo, including this cuckoo clock watch and stand created for the Swiss watch brand Maurice Lacroix, on their website. (via The Design Journal)

Design

Contemporary Takes on Cuckoo Clocks by Guido Zimmerman Resemble Brutalist Block Buildings

German multidisciplinary artist Guido Zimmermann reinterprets the iconic German cuckoo clock using examples of modern architecture. The artist notes that while “the classic cuckoo clock stands for the prosperity of the middle class and counts as a kind of luxury for the staid home, the updated version as a panel construction shows today’s urban and social life in apartment blocks.”

Zimmermann drew on specific examples of modern architecture to create his sculptural “Cuckoo Blocks,” including the Glenkerry House by Brutalist architect Ernő Goldfinger and Bauhaus architect Marcel Breuer’s Flaine hotel. Grids of windows peek out of flat concrete surfaces, with contemporary details such as satellite dishes and cactus houseplants.

The artist studied at the Academy of Visual Arts in his native city of Frankfurt, where he currently lives and works. You can see more of Zimmermann’s diverse projects, including paintings and murals, on his website, as well as on Instagram and Facebook.

Design

Float Through Time with Flyte’s New Magnetized Clock

Tell time or count down the moments until your next big life event with STORY, a new magnetized piece from Flyte (previously). The company’s latest design is an improvement to the wall clock, a work that uses powerful magnetism to move a hovering metal ball around STORY’s edge.

The designed object was built with three modes. With the Journey setting, you can set your mechanism to a specific date, watching the magnetic ball travel along the circular piece of wood until the ball reaches an upcoming moment such as a vacation or birth of a child. Selecting Clock allows you to use the object more like a traditional timepiece, and finally Timer acts as a short term countdown for kitchen prep or time out.

STORY also features a shining digital display to add detail to your chosen setting, and is backlit to be seen in the dark. When synced with Flyte’s mobile app, you can also use the backlight to demonstrate realtime sunsets, sunrises, and phases of the moon.

STORY was just launched on Kickstarter. You can see more of Flyte’s levitating designs, including a set of floating planters, on their website.