Design a metaphoric timepiece which takes historic pendulum to a modern and interactive piece. The clock has to be personalized and has to be used as a decorative element for a desk in the house.

During the ideation stage it was defined that a metaphoric clock has to have a much broader definition to make it more appealing and beautiful. Since one of the criteria was to design a timepiece using the design aesthetics of nowadays, the definition «modern» was a perfect match for the first shot. Also to give a user better experience using this clock I decided that the clock should have a tactile interaction with the user. As a result, the design direction took off with metaphoric, modern and tactility keywords.

After deciding the overall form of the design in the ideation stage I had to come up with as many styling ideas as possible. Starting off with simple illustrations and working them out I used Photoshop to get more valid design details.

During the concept development stage it was very important to check the dimensions and some tactile differences. In order to achieve that goal I quickly modeled cardboard prototypes.

During the making of the Swing Clock I utilized 3D printing and CNC machining for some parts which needed precise details. After the parts were ready they were finished with intended color match. Also, since the clock had a pendulum mechanism, some parts went through several iterations.

In order to move the clock I used a servo which helps the clock move left and right. One of the challenges of working with the servo was that it didn’t have a real gravity force which made the clock swing in a more robotic way.

The clock went through several iterations involving changes to both technical parts and aesthetics before I settled on a final design. In the end minimal color palettes were chosen to give it a simple and modern look.

The design was thought out to have as much negative spaces as possible, the reason for this was to give bigger area for the clock itself so,it will be standing out in the center of the design.

Two use scenarios have been considered while designing this product. First, the product stands without any movement. Second, when the user moves the clock it will start swinging like a pendulum.

When the user holds the clock in the center the motor will automatically stop swinging.

The Swing Clock comes in two different colors. The color variation was decided by considering the simple and minimal look of the product. The main product color is black with some grey details and an orange hour hand. The orange color gives a very distinct look to the clock. Also it can be detected right away since the hour hand of the clock is the most important indicator in the timepiece.

Showing the time in an untraditional way was one of the considered points in the design direction. Therefore. this design has a different hand and rotation mechanism. If in a traditional clock the hand rotates, in this design the circle with the hand moves ensuring a very unique experience of showing the time.

During the concept development stage I had ideated in different variations of the clock visualization. One of the decent concepts was to move the circle instead of having a hand. So, taking that idea and iterating upon it resulted in this concept.

Nowadays the focus on home decoration has been increasingly growing. In fact, the Swing Clock will be a great decorative element both when it’s being functional and when it’s not being used. Also, the package has been designed by taking into consideration that this product can be a great gift for close people.