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Ball Clock
Ball is a Desk Clock (above left) designed by John Wischhusen that looks like a navigational device from the 1700s. It’s a sphere with an hour hand that curves up from below and a minute hand that curves down from above. The clock can be used on a tabletop or hung from the ceiling. On the right is Hang, another clock, that looks more like a mobile. The numbers and clock hands float in three dimensional space. Wischhusen's clock collection was on display at Designersblock London 2006.
Ball.
Hang.
While somewhat interesting, all these clocks would be virtually impossible to read. They're interesting OBJECTS, but they fail at the function of being a CLOCK. Wouldn't that make these things more sculpture than design?
Good point, uh... Crap, yes, they're not efficient clocks, they are more art than function. In this instance, if we took more time to discern the time, we might appreciate it more.
I don't know... the Ball clock seems fairly straightforward to me in terms of readability. Hang however, has me "confustigated".
I'm inclined to accept new ways of displaying time- that is to say, I'm open to alternatives like one-handed watches, dots or lines instead of number, various mutations of the general form. If it deviates too much from traditional form or function, it becomes a little messy.
I don't know if you've heard about Swatches ".beat" experiment, but they sell timepieces based on "Internet Time", a global system where a day equals 1000 "beats" (86.4 seconds), and does not take time zones into accound. The idea is that you can meet someone across the world, in a chat room perhaps, @865 beats. Since both people are properly calibrated, there's no need to say, "let's meet at 8pm my time, 6am your time" or anything like that.
Interesting, but I don't know if anyone uses it.
Either way, it is fun to experiment with presentation- it warrants success and failure.
The clocks are great! The Ball Clock is a modern take on "Victorian/ Jules Verne" styling. Practicallity takes a back seat to creativity here. Well Done.
I really like both pieces - excellent concepts. Ball definitely seems readable, and Hang, while it might take a bit of adjusting to, seems almost as easy. The hardest thing would be guaging the exact minute, but we all round to 15 minute increments anyway. I think it's a wonderful idea to suspend the "face" horizontally in space. It expresses the infinity of time very well.
I'm not crazy about the material used. The plastic looks flimsy, like a child's toy. I would have preferred a sturdy looking metal or at least a more substantial plastic material.
Anything that finds an innovative way to express time is a fantastic piece of art.