Unary version of telling time

Posted on by

Design submitted by Sam from Germany.

Sam says: This is a very simple idea this time. I thought about letting tally mark numbers tell the time and instantly wanted it to be on an e-paper display – thin, white, simple. I’m not sure about how the watch should look like. There shoudn’t be too much details to leave space for own associations, it should be elegant and unisex of course. The numbers could appear through an animation that looks like counting up to the current time. The time could refresh every minute or just stay until a button is pressed. Then there would mostly be a confusing amount of tally marks on the display just making people think “well that’s not the time on his wrist, so why are there numbers?”. Pressing the button would erase the numbers, also through an animation, and rewrite the actual ones. I called the watch Yunari, which is a Japanized version of the word unary, the basic numbering system behind this concept.

25 thoughts on “Unary version of telling time”

  2. Simple, but very effective.
    Looks good as black on white, but I think it would work with other colours / backgrounds too. Something that springs to mind is a dungeon or prison wall background, for example.
    Another “must have” design. 5*/Y.

    Like

    • I think other colors would work great. Colored e-paper would stand out nicely from any other watch. Detailed backgrounds behind there time telling lines are interesting (check my INCH watch concept by searching for it on the top right of this page) but we must watch out to not disturb the readability. Thank you for the thoughts and the support!!

      Like

  3. Hi Sam, I like this original idea, even if to count time with marks, means that one is bored or that one is in a hurry that finishes.
    5 * / Yes, it is original and easy to read.

    Like

  4. Simple but wantable (at first I thought you copy my design but then when I read It just a tally mark). This is an instant yes from me! 5* too!

    ps: how to be your friend?

    Like

    • Thank you fir. Well actually your latest watch idea reminded me of my tally mark sketches. I have so many untranslated sketches that I have no time for. This time I made it quickly to see what people think, what people want. I’m glad you like it. Maybe I make a more detailed version in the future.

      ps: invite me to your favorite restaurant

      Like

  5. I can’t believe this idea hasn’t been done before! It’s so simple and kinda obvious! lol
    I would like to see a metal version where the tally marks look like scratches in the metal like a record of kills in a future battle. Either way very simple and very doable! 5/Y best of luck! 😀

    Like

    • Yes so simple! Maybe too simple to justify the expense fr e-paper. One thing is missing and then it would work fine… just not sure what.

      Metal version and scratches… not bad.

      Thanks for the comment and for the support Pete!

      Like

  7. Cool, Sam. In addition to your mad rendering skills, you know when not much is just right 😉 Could also do a green chalkboard look. As others have suggested, it would be nice to change the background texture in addition to the stroke of the lines. Maybe one watch could feature several themes? 5*/y

    Like

    • Green chalkboard…. could work I think! I think e-paper can’t change the background unless it’s the expensive version that’s used in e-books. If that’s the case, any type of display would be possible, like the Pebble… If we keep it simple, clean and hopefully affordable, it could work too. Merci beaucoup for your input and the support Chris!

      Like

  10. I like the idea. I tried to do a 1-2-5-9 with tally marks but failed. 12-5-9/e-paper is probably the best way to do it. I like the random/confusing amount of tally marks while idle. I would buy.

    Like

    • Thanks Makk! I thought about 12h and 60min before, that would mean maximum 13 five-packs of tally marks (actually 12 and one pack with 4 marks) which are not as quick to read but still easy.

      Like

Comments are closed.