Artistic wall clock design adds a symbol-laden design object to your space

Almost all homes have one or more wall clocks to tell the time, but if that’s all they ever did, they would be a waste of precious space. They’re also a missed opportunity to add more value to a space with their presence, which is why there are plenty of clock designs that span a wide range of motifs and styles. Some are spartan and minimalist, while others are luxurious and elaborate.

Still, others are simple yet bear a lot of meaning to those who dare to look closer. This design, for example, might simply look like a beautiful yet ordinary clock. At least until you realize that it’s almost like it’s staring back at you, inviting you to get lost in its fusion of art and functionality.

Designer: Ivan Llaneza

Although there are people who prefer digital watches or even smartwatches, it seems that the majority still lean toward the timeless appearance of an analog wall clock. Even if it doesn’t offer a precise reading, especially from a distance, these circular objects with their thin moving hands convey a more relatable concept of time compared to changing numbers. There’s an almost mystical aspect to the notion of time, and analog clocks are able to capture it better than digital ones.

Time’s Gaze is a design that tries to express that character in a striking yet subtle way. While the clock face itself is a simple circle with golden accents for the hands and markers, it’s the combination of the intersecting wooden arcs behind it that gives it a more interesting appearance. Although its default installation is vertical, turning it sideways reveals a shape similar to an all-seeing eye gazing back at you.

Another and more subtle symbolism expressed by this clock design is that of the broken infinity symbol. The regular looping iconography represents eternity and a continuous flow of time. Breaking it at the ends, so to speak, captures a small segment of that, like a snapshot of time to represent the present moment.

Even without these deeper meanings, the Time’s Gaze clock design is definitely an eye-catching (pardon the pun) design object. It’s a bit strange that it’s not designed to be mounted in a horizontal position, which would make its “eye” metaphor more evident. Perhaps that stops it from being a little too obvious and unsettling, like some otherworldly being spying on you all the time.

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SiO2 Clock made from diatomaceous earth is an eco-friendly adornment to your wall

Even though a lot of kids now are not able to tell time by looking at a wall clock, there are still a lot of people who like having an actual clock hanging in their home. There is also no lack of product designers trying to create unique looking and even environmentally friendly designs for these analog time tellers. While we can always glance at our phones to tell time, there’s still something comforting about looking at the wall to tell time.

Designer: Yuichi Nara

The SiO2 Clock is created from diatomaceous earth that is found in large quantities in the Noto region in Japan. This material is normally used to make bricks and stoves but there are a lot of discarded waste material that just contributes to waste. So they used these unused materials and used a plastering technique traditional to the town of Kanazawa to create an eco-friendly and traditionally and locally-based wall clock.

There’s nothing really different about the basic design of the clock compared to others but because of the material and the technique used, it gives off a very earthy and warm vibe. It also employs a 3-D design achieved through die-cutting and distortion-free molding so there are shadows cast from the hands to tell time.

The SiO2 logo displayed on the clock above the hands is not just the name of the product but is also the chemical symbol of the main component of the diatomaceous earth. It’s available in several earthy colors (white, gray) but there’s also green and pink for those that may like a muted splash of color.

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CMF-inspired clock concept with appealing aesthetics could benefit from a dose of connected features

The see-through aesthetics of the Nothing earbuds and then the Phone (1) have inspired numerous concept designs. All these products spill the transparency of consumer electronics hardware into forms we never thought of, but love. CMF By Nothing is a more accessible brand that carries the same design philosophy and we’ve not seen many CMF-inspired designs until now.

Meet the CMF Clock concept that reimagines the reliable ticker on your wall in modern attire. The design leverages the harmonious integration of color palettes, material choices and surface finishes to mimic the CMF’s philosophy. According to the designer, this ensures the final product is a true reflection of the brand and timeless design sensibilities.

Designer: Kedar Bagaria

The aspiration for this project is to elevate the status quo of the good old wall clock, creating a balance between both form and function. Also, the vision of the concept is to pen down a design that functions as a timepiece and elevates the aesthetic appeal of any interior space – whether it’s your home or office. The depth of perception is portrayed via the shorter seconds hand while the hours and minute hands are signified by the semi-circular shaped disks running along the diameter of the clock dial.

The color palette chosen is a balanced Sierra of white, grey, black and the signature orange. The concept is imagined in three different color variants – one emphasizing the whites, the other the blacks, and the last one going for an overpowering orange look. While the design here looks gorgeous for a geeky den, we longed for an integrated functional approach that is aligned with modern needs. Things like connected features for showing important notifications, calendar updates, schedules, or preferred pings from social media apps.

The technology to superimpose a thin smart display on top and connected hardware modules like WiFi or Bluetooth will enhance the overall appeal of such a consumer product.

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Hive-like LED wall clock offers a colorful and dynamic way to tell the time

Clock designs come in all shapes, sizes, and levels of complexity. On one end, you have ultra-minimalist analog clocks that barely have discernible hands or numbers on their faces. On the opposite end, however, you have not only sophisticated mechanical clocks with all their gears and movements, you also have digital clocks with smart features that go beyond telling the time. Of course, it’s always a matter of balancing functionality and features, and some designs intentionally tip the scales toward one or the other depending on their target audience. This DIY wall clock, for example, caters to those who want a more vibrant and creative way to display the time, though it does require a bit of technical and electronics know-how to make.

Designer: Dawid Karoński

It’s really impressive how far DIY tools have come these days, from desktop 3D printers to small circuit boards that can run complicated programs to control nontrivial devices. And depending on the skills of the one making them, the end result could even look like a professionally made product that came from a factory rather than someone’s garage or home workshop. The Hexaclock, named for its unusual shape for a clock, is one such example, offering a wall clock and smart lamp that can rival the quality and features of well-known smart lighting brands.

The catch is that you have to make one yourself, which may or may not result in a product of equal quality. You’ll need a 3D printer, unsurprisingly, but that is actually the easier part of the process. The more tedious phase requires precisely cutting an LED light strip into specific sizes so that the LEDs actually line up with the hexagon-shaped compartments of the lamp. Even more laborious is connecting these segments together again into a single unit, at least electronically, so that you can control the strip with a program as if it was never cut at all.

All of these details, from the schematics to the software, are made available for free so that anyone with the right tools and knowledge can make their own hive-shaped wall clock. In terms of functionality, the clock offers plenty of customization options, from animated color transitions to dancing patterns. What’s even more impressive is that it supports a light sensor that can dim all LEDs except the ones displaying the clock itself so that the bright lights won’t disturb your sleep at night.

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Solar-powered sundial wall clock concept offers a unique way to tell the time

Today’s clocks and watches seem to be split between mechanical analog and electronic digital designs, but there are more than two ways to tell the time. Of course, some of these methods are regarded to be inaccurate, error-prone, and at the mercy of the elements, but there’s a certain charm and magical feeling to the way our ancient ancestors tried to discern the time of day. The sundial is one of the oldest time-keeping tools, one that works on the presumption that the sun travels the same path every day of the year, which isn’t exactly the case. Still, it’s not an entirely incorrect method and it can easily be fixed with modern technology, like this sustainable wall clock concept that is powered by the sun in more ways than one.

Designer: Begüm Kılınç

A sundial works by simply observing the shadow that a stick or a tall thin object casts on a flat surface, a shadow that moves around and grows or shrinks as the sun makes its way through the sky. The sun doesn’t travel the exact same path all year round, however, and this method definitely doesn’t work at night. Modern technology, however, has a way to shine a light 24/7, and this wall clock uses that to recreate the almost mystical appearance of a sundial while utilizing energy from the very sun that inspired it.

Name after the Egyptian god of the sun, the Ra wall clock utilizes an LED ring light to simulate the sun. But rather than shining from all directions, the light is focused on a single point to recreate the effect of a short stick casting a very long shadow. As time moves, so does the light move around the periphery of the circle, thus mimicking a sundial but with more consistency and accuracy. Plus, it works at night as it does during the day.

While this would have been enough to create a modern sundial clock, the concept takes the association even further by also following how the sundial of old needed only the sun to function. Rather than relying on batteries, Ra uses solar power to make sure the clock is running 24/7 without the need to charge it or change batteries. The transparent solar panel that makes up the wall clock’s front cover actually harnesses any light around it, so the clock doesn’t need to actually be exposed to the sun and can be used indoors or under low-light environments.

This design helps give the sundial wall clock a sustainable potential, even if it does minimally use some electronics as well as LED lighting. Unlike analog clocks, there are now complex mechanisms that are difficult to repair, and unlike digital clocks, there are no screens or displays to show the time. It uses a very simple method that traces its roots back to ancient times, but one that still has benefits to the people of today.

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