Digital Density watch reveals stylish, abstract numbers

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Design submitted by Sam from Germany.

Say says: I was sketching for a stylish way to transform the classic 7-segment numbers. One day I thought about how these numbers would look, if seen through a perforated metal plate. Its holes would have a different visual density depending on how much lines meet underneath.
This is where the idea for Digital Density was born.

The numbers are made of six dots at maximum. The dots are where the segments of the classic numbers have their ends. Sometimes three classic number segments meet in a spot, the visual density is high there. This situation has been transformed to a big dot for the new numbers. If two classic number segments would meet, the density is medium and so the resulting dot is medium. A single line results in a small dot. No line – no dot at all. So the new dot numbers have the same visual density as the classic numbers but have a more abstract appearance. They look weird at first, but they share a certain resemblance with their archetypes. There are four numbers aligned in a 2×2 array. The top ones tell the hours, the bottom ones tell the minute. The watch around these numbers is kept roundish and simple.

The numbers might look strange at first, but stylish in any case. This is a watch for fans of abstract arts or minimalistic design. The 60’s charme of the case and the straps are quite a diversion to current watches and were a consequence of the dots which reminded me of a wallpaper pattern of that period.

26 thoughts on “Digital Density watch reveals stylish, abstract numbers”

  1. Simple but very effective, the right amount of criptic…ness to baffle all on lookers but easy to understand. Sleek simple case with a retro charm. Silver and Blue for me! 5 stars and Oh Yeah! 😀

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  2. Instant buy! 100*….tokyoflash, when you make this one, please don’t make it too large and clunky. I want this one bad! 🙂
    (would prefer a strap with fewer ridges)

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  3. Instant buy! 100* .. Tokyoflash, when you make this one, please don’t make it too large and clunky…I really want this one bad! 🙂 I’m drooling over silver and blue!
    (would prefer a strap with fewer “ridges”)

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  8. Absolutely love this design. Very well thought out… At first glance looks totally cryptic until you realise the theory behind it… Great abstract thinking behind this one. Definite winner Tokyoflash!

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  9. I really like the retro look. It is refreshing to see something other than futuristic cases. I think this is the first watch I have seen were all the color variations looks incredible.

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  12. Genius, Amazing concept and design. I would but this one in a second. Crazy how once you train your brain on the Density of the circles the numbers just stand out perfectly. This looks like something, Steven Hawking, or Einstein, or some other mathematical Genius would design. It would be a shame if this one was not developed, I think the impact to make oit great would be to make it with E-ink for the circles for very sharp crisp look, or an LCD screen, so that colors could be incorporated. The circled need to be bright and Bold… Thumbs up to the person who submitted this design….

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  14. Howdy! I think this is the best design with dot theme so far, if TF is considering making a watch based on dot theme, here it is, if I am buying a dot themed watch, I’ll chose this. 2nd is dot to dot, or dot to dot in this from of design. Sleek and very clean work. Well done Samu-chin!

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    • Lets hope there is room for two dot based watches in TF’s consideration list, be a shame if they had to choose between this and dot2dot!

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  16. @ Tokyoflash: Thank you for posting my concept 😀 I like the presentation style you use (text pic text pic…)

    @ Pete: Thanks man! 4.9 is awesome. But even more awesome are the commenters 😉 Oh TF could make a dot series. Laszlo has something to say too then!

    @ Heather: Thank you! *gives tissue* 😉

    @ Gordon&Joe: THX G and J!

    @ Cory: Thank you Cory. E-ink could work. But LCD would suffice and has the advantage of backlighting. A touch screen would be an opportunity to remove the button on the side, making the watch look a bit more like an accessoir and less like a device. Options, options ^^

    @ Lloyd: Cool, thank you! Yeah the pixely one has another feeling, more edgy and techy. This one’s more “softy” hehehe

    @ mikey: Thanks for sharing your thoughts. I’m always glad if the “first – gaga, later – piece of cake” effect works.

    @ Albert: Sounds great, thanks! The retro look developed from the display. It somehow reminded me of 60’s wallpaper and back then they had these rounded televisions and commodes. I only know the 60’s from images and movies and I tried to put the feeling I have about that time into the watch. Worked 😀

    @ Laszl○ / Mindwatches: Thanks alot Laszlo!! Dots are a wonderful thing! I saw, you have fun with them too 😀

    @ THEKOP: Oh yeah, date should be in there too – simple thing for the watch gods hehe. Thanks for the comment!

    @ George: Yesss, exactly: train and gain 😀 The good thing is, the numbers can’t be confused and even if you don’t recognize a number instantly, a certain resemblence is always there. I would suggest an LCD display. It allows backlight (where the colors come from) and is easy to make. Compared to the awesome Optical Illusion watch, this display is super simple in terms of feasability… I think 🙂 Thank you for your great comment!!

    @ Mano: Cool, thank you!!

    @ Firfir: Hehe, thanks alot 😀 I must say, you have a really good taste! Hm, sleek and clean… I must try to do that more often 😉

    Phew, what a day!

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      • Aesthetically I love this watch, Sam. The only thing that I’m not so keen on is that you can’t read the time in a flash. But that’s just me. 😀 Back in the 90s I made up a couple of puzzles where I placed circles at each of the junctions in some letters. One of them based on the word SERIES, which appeared in GAMES magazine, showed only the lines that fell inside the circles so that you were left with what looked just like a series of confusing dials with hands pointing in different directions. Anyway, it just reminded me of that. I hope they make this watch for you.

        I think you’re right about me not particularly liking techy, angular things, although I might surprise you. 🙂 For me, the problem with making numbers so abstract that they are barely recognisable is that I think why not just substitute them for symbols.

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      • Yepp, good point about the symbols. If these symbols look wow and share the same style – why not 🙂

        Quick reading impossible in the first time. After a month it’s easy. An analog watch without indicators has a similar difficulty. Even with indicators it’s tricky for some people who are used to get the 4 numbers served clearly. That’s what TF watches make people buy – the look and the challenge. Sometimes it’s a little tolerated torture in a cool looking disguise.

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  17. Hi Sam, this watch is part of a series, with those of Hearther,with typographies of numbers, with a new direction, if they are all produced, I would have a different choice.
    All these beautiful watches worth all with a 5 * Yes, in my view, with the latter.

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    • Oh yeah, Heather is my inspiration if it comes to changing numbers in a cool way 😀 I like these cryptic but easy to decypher numbers. Thank you Patrick!!

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  19. Thank you everybody for you input, be it critique or pure love. I like this one, it’s cute and works intuitively. Let’s see where this one goes 🙂

    Keep your minds open!

    Sam from germany

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