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Ttmm For Fitbit Clock Face Apps by Albert Salamon |
Home > Winners > Design #73856 >Interview |
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FS: What is the main principle, idea and inspiration behind your design?
AS: TTMM's DNA is to define and invent new signs of the 21 century era and soft(ware)time in a new way. Innovation, clarity and uniqueness - these are my the three fundamental design principles. I was inspired by sci-fi literature and movies and by electronic music. For example the album "Computer World" by Kraftwerk is very substantial for me.
FS: What has been your main focus in designing this work? Especially what did you want to achieve?
AS: I try to harmonize functionality, like legibility and friendly interface, with the unique character of the design and I always want to fill each design with some meaning. This meaning is also hidden in particular names.
FS: What are your future plans for this award winning design?
AS: I am going to redesign the best ones to add a weather functions and offer it in a subscription model.
FS: How long did it take you to design this particular concept?
AS: This project took over a year. It was a development and an expansion of my previous collections designed for the Pebble smartwatch.
FS: Why did you design this particular concept? Was this design commissioned or did you decide to pursuit an inspiration?
AS: We are more and more submerged in a digital world and time has also become more digital. I just felt that this is a challenge for me, to design a "face of the time" in a contemporary way. I made the TTMM collection for people likeminded, people who seek simple, minimal and functional design. It is all my original idea.
FS: Is your design being produced or used by another company, or do you plan to sell or lease the production rights or do you intent to produce your work yourself?
AS: For this moment this is only my product. I think that these designs are niche, so I will probably continue developing this project for a group of fans.
FS: What made you design this particular type of work?
AS: I like watches, and the Fitbit Versa smartwatch offers a good space (display surface) to show my idea of what clock faces could look like in the 21 century. I was just tired of looking at digital imitations of 20 century analogue clocks (like Apple’s Mickey Mouse with hands) or casio like lcd watches and wanted to have my own "watch interface".
FS: Where there any other designs and/or designers that helped the influence the design of your work?
AS: Yes, there was NOOKA and TOKYOFLASH blogs - they show bold, avant-garde ideas of clock faces and watch mechanisms. NOOKA and TOKYOFLASH were a big inspiration and encouraged me to make my ideas real. My previous TTMM collection for Pebble acts as a fantastic library of ideas. I have been rethinking and redesigning them into a new the collection for Fitbit Versa.
FS: Who is the target customer for his design?
AS: I think that TTMM is creating a new group of customers and they come from every corner of the earth. Fans of TTMM are open minded and seeking a different ways and forms of expressing time. This is a very small group - but it is growing every day.
FS: What sets this design apart from other similar or resembling concepts?
AS: TTMM collection expresses my deep desire to be a human being - a person with very specific questions about TIME. With this idea in mind the designs I make naturally gain a unique style and vision. So TTMM uses a broad idea, not only adaptable for a watch face but also more symbolical or philosophical, encouraging people to THINK about TIME and what it means for them.
FS: How did you come up with the name for this design? What does it mean?
AS: The name TTMM is a composition of a decomposition of Time. I have merged two elements: TIME – a word and a HH:MM code. The name mechanical pronunciation represents the progressive digitalization of our times. The individual design names are related to the inspiration behind the design or are just abstract names.
FS: Which design tools did you use when you were working on this project?
AS: Sketch, Adobe Illustrator and Adobe Photoshop
FS: What is the most unique aspect of your design?
AS: Most important is this personal, subjective style - sort of „aha“ enlightenment, which happens when a user discovers the meaning behind a specific clock face. Plus the easy-to-use setup and a personalized interfaces.
FS: Who did you collaborate with for this design? Did you work with people with technical / specialized skills?
AS: The whole design process I created myself, including sketches, the project, the documentation and testing of the final product. I have hired programmers (Gregoire Sage and Wiktor Hołubowicz) to write the code for Fitbit Versa clock faces. It was a fruitful collaboration.
FS: What is the role of technology in this particular design?
AS: The technology used by Fitbit (high resolution and 1000 nits screen) and sport functions provide a great space for experimenting and learning how to compose an attractive hierarchy for info and show different complications such as: steps, distance, heart rate, calories, floors, temperature and the weather icon.
FS: Is your design influenced by data or analytical research in any way? What kind of research did you conduct for making this design?
AS: Foremost I analize purchases to discover which of my designs people like the most. This is sort of knowledge gives me clues on how TTMM should harmonize uniqueness and functionality to achieve success.
FS: What are some of the challenges you faced during the design/realization of your concept?
AS: The main challenge was not only to design great clock faces but also to present them in an easy-to-operate and easy-to-purchase way. That is why I decided to release a separate clock face store with the whole TTMM collection. This solution provides a simple and clear presentation of clock faces (without any unwanted distraction) and an easy way for using the clock faces on the watch itself.
FS: How did you decide to submit your design to an international design competition?
AS: It is natural for me to enter the competition where I can present my work to professionals and the public. This is my 10th Design Award for TTMM.
FS: What did you learn or how did you improve yourself during the designing of this work?
AS: Firstly - I have experienced a great pace of change in technology, so everything I develop only lives for a very short period of time and quickly becomes history. Secondly - design vs production, development and promotion are all different and very important processes. They take more time than designing itself. So to achieve success you need to connect and balance all these processes, manage programmers and coordinate their work and make an intriguing and beautiful ad campaign to sell the product.
FS: Any other things you would like to cover that have not been covered in these questions?
AS: It is very hard to invent new ideas and to show time from a different perspectives and despite the years of experience and over 150 different clock faces created, this particular segment of design still poses a challenge for me and brings new discoveries and maximum satisfaction every time. I also dream about my own TTMM hardware watch, which would be a kind of legacy of my unique experience and talent - so I am eager to see what the future brings.
FS: Thank you for providing us with this opportunity to interview you.
A' Design Award and Competitions grants rights to press members and bloggers to use parts of this interview. This interview is provided as it is; DesignPRWire and A' Design Award and Competitions cannot be held responsible for the answers given by participating designers.
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