Comments on: Fractal Watch Design

By: logan

logan — Fri, 10 Dec 2010 18:47:00 +0000

Darren, thank you very much for your detailed feedback. I will think about your suggestions and might submit a variation on this idea. You are correct that a lot of tweaking went into getting the weights right, and I also examined different styles of segmented digits. It’s tough to change one aspect while keeping the rest in balance, but I’ll think about it more. Thanks!

By: Darren

Darren — Fri, 10 Dec 2010 01:31:53 +0000

I love the idea of putting the small numbers into segments of the large one! It must have taken a lot of tweaking to get the weights right.

But I agree that 10, 11, 12 are too hard to read (and distinguishing 12 from 2 could be a problem). Yes, you can decipher it, but the beauty of this design is how the hour jumps out at you.

How about this: include an extra vertical 1 for 10–12, then use it to display the date! Date digits lit for 1-9 and reversed (filled) for 10-12. The date digits would be thin, with chunky filler segments, so the leading 1 disappears when the date digits are lit. Would the date still be readable in reverse with the weights reduced?

While I’m at it, here’s a second idea. Let the surround and large-holes be LCD segments also, then reverse the whole display depending on whether it’s “day” (6am – 5:59pm) or “night” (6pm – 5:59am). It could be hard to make that look good though. Maybe just use a different colour backlighting to distinguish am/pm or day/night?

By: said

said — Fri, 03 Dec 2010 08:44:11 +0000

THis idea is brillant Logan!!
I agree I m not too sure about 10 11 12 hours. Beside that it s all good!!
I would buy it!

By: logan

logan — Tue, 30 Nov 2010 19:59:57 +0000

@Lally @Sam @Aphosno thanks for the feedback about the negative part. It’s good to see you all agree on that (even if it’s different than my personal preference). Whether to use an extra vertical bar like Lally suggests or do what Sam says (which is what we also discussed for my Interlaced design), I don’t know, but at least there is some consensus.

It’s great to see the appreciation for this idea!

By: Aphosno

Aphosno — Tue, 30 Nov 2010 18:46:18 +0000

Look at the rating! 4.2 stars! I agree with those who prefer the symbols, not the negative display. As sam said, the base idea is great and that makes me rate you 5 stars! I know, the case comes from tokyoflash. A more edgy one would be nice.

By: Samukun

Samukun — Tue, 30 Nov 2010 17:16:34 +0000

I would prefer a 0 (10) II (11) and a mirrored $ (12) instead of negative display. Negative was good for your other watch design in my opinion.

But everything is a matter of custom/practice. The main idea of relying on self similarity do divide a big digit into smaller ones is very strooong (the rating is over 4*) The rest is discussable details

By: Lally

Lally — Tue, 30 Nov 2010 17:05:36 +0000

But with that said, it’s probably the most compelling watch I’ve seen on TokyoFlash in years.

By: Lally

Lally — Tue, 30 Nov 2010 17:04:57 +0000

It’s too hard to read when > 9. Really, put in another vertical bar for it. It’s useful for 1/4th of the day.

Additionally, inverting the smaller numbers is a terrible, terrible, idea. It’s way too hard to read.

By: logan

logan — Sun, 28 Nov 2010 23:59:12 +0000

I’m curious, do other people agree with Ryan that 10, 11, and 12 are too difficult to read, with the minutes and seconds shown in negative? Or do you like those negative displays for 10, 11, and 12? Thanks everyone for your input (including Ryan).

By: Ryan

Ryan — Sun, 28 Nov 2010 08:13:58 +0000

Nice, though 10/11/12 are pretty much impossible to read IMHO. Instead, I would suggest utilizing the bottom horizontal band for 10 and 12. Split it up so you could remove small sections so “10″ and “12″ are visible in the band.

Obviously wouldn’t work for 11, but 11′s easy to represent anyway. Just utilize the vertical bands on both sides, and remove the horizontal bands.

By: Avatara

Avatara — Sat, 27 Nov 2010 17:04:20 +0000

Yeah, quite like this! Straightforward to read but holds my interest at the same time. This would be nice in a long sharp case that matches the sharpness of the numerals maybe. Like the idea of LCD and i’ve always liked red & black too.

By: logan

logan — Wed, 24 Nov 2010 16:19:44 +0000

Thanks, Sam! I thought about putting the seconds in the minutes, but couldn’t find a way to do it without making them too small or the big hours digit too “fat”. It’s good to hear that you like the aesthetics, thanks as usual for the feedback.

Incidentally, I did once submit a real fractal design, but it didn’t use digits and maybe Tokyoflash thought it was too difficult to read. I might try to rethink that one and put it in a more friendly form.

By: Samukun

Samukun — Wed, 24 Nov 2010 15:59:53 +0000

I really hope this one gets far. It is such a cool idea wich hits the aesthetics center of my brain I understand the fractal idea. What a pity, you cannot put the seconds in the second digit of the minutes. It would be too small. But it would be very fractalliscious (that’s a word now). But anyway, good luck on this!

By: logan

logan — Wed, 24 Nov 2010 15:46:49 +0000

Thanks, guys! @Sam, I tried several styles of segmented digits before landing on these to make the big digit look “full.” If you use traditional segmented digits or try to make them truly self-similar (exactly the same shape segments in the big and small digits), the big digit will seem too fragmented and be difficult to read. So, it can be done, and the end result is indeed simple, but the choice of digits is made with some care.

By: Samukun

Samukun — Wed, 24 Nov 2010 09:04:25 +0000

Awesome!!! Thats is so damn cool! I didn’t know one can do this with just simple digits It looks like a mouse came by and ate a bit of the 6 on the first image. 5* for this really creative idea!