The English Numbers Smartwatch Watch Face by Pan Yong

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DI: What is the main principle, idea and inspiration behind your design?

PY : The inspiration is that there are too many traditional watch faces in both analog and digital categories, I want to do something different. A text-based hybrid type.

DI: What has been your main focus in designing this work? Especially what did you want to achieve?

PY : With the idea, a hybrid type, in mind, I realised that the way of reading the time itself could be a hybrid type. So the main focus is how to convert the natural way of read the time into a unique hybrid type. How do we read the time? “4:50 pm” right? Why not “Four45 pm”? That will make the number-based time a text and number combined type.

DI: What are your future plans for this award winning design?

PY : For my own use or sell it.

DI: How long did it take you to design this particular concept?

PY : It took me about 2 days to get the initial prototype, and about 2 - 3 months to refine it.

DI: Why did you design this particular concept? Was this design commissioned or did you decide to pursuit an inspiration?

PY : There are basically two types of the watch face in the watch industry, analog and digital. I want to do something beyond the traditional.

DI: 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?

PY : Currently, the design is used by myself, and I’m selling the watch face on Samsung Galaxy store. If companies intent to buy, maybe I plan to sell it or lease the production rights. I’m happy to see it coming.

DI: What made you design this particular type of work?

PY : I got the inspiration of putting the natural way of telling time directly onto watch face so that people can read the time naturally and intuitively.

DI: Who is the target customer for his design?

PY : Almost anyone, unless the user cannot read English.

DI: What sets this design apart from other similar or resembling concepts?

PY : The intuitive way of reading the time.

DI: How did you come up with the name for this design? What does it mean?

PY : The name is quite straightforward. It just means “English + Numbers”.

DI: Which design tools did you use when you were working on this project?

PY : Adobe Photoshop and Watchmaker app.

DI: What is the most unique aspect of your design?

PY : The user experience.

DI: Who did you collaborate with for this design? Did you work with people with technical / specialized skills?

PY : I did it on my own. Conceptualized it. Design it. Code it. All by myself.

DI: What is the role of technology in this particular design?

PY : The role of technology in this design is not the most important. It just does its basic function — fetch the correct data.

DI: Is your design influenced by data or analytical research in any way? What kind of research did you conduct for making this design?

PY : No, there is no data research involved.

DI: What are some of the challenges you faced during the design/realization of your concept?

PY : The hour text in English has a different length. “Eleven” is much longer than “One”. So the challenge is how to arrange the space for English text.

DI: How did you decide to submit your design to an international design competition?

PY : I didn’t decide. If lucky, I guess, my design will be nominated. Just like this time. One day, I received the email from A’Design, saying that this watch face design was nominated.

DI: What did you learn or how did you improve yourself during the designing of this work?

PY : I got a lot of feedback from my social media posts.