Tag Archives: Smartwatch design

In collaboration with Adobe, this watch design uses CGI to highlight the textures of crystals and landscapes!

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The texture of wearable designs, like watches, has the ability to grab our attention before we even fully understand the designing the first place. I know I’m not the only one who can’t help but reach out to run my fingers over all the different fabrics as I pass them by in department stores. The texture of a product’s exterior is what tells our brain whether or not we’re interested in learning more about it. In collaboration with Adobe, Jean-François Bozec sourced inspiration from surfaces of raw materials like obsidian crystals, natural aluminum, and upturned leather, when designing the Obsidian Watch, his latest 3D visual concept.

The digital interface on the Obsidian Watch is raised with a gradual pitch that gives it an air of reserved elegance to match the subtly intricate textures of its watch bands. The iridescent nature of red obsidian is presented in Bozec’s design through the dual-toned case. The watch’s case creates shadowed layers and was inspired by the matte textures of aluminum and iron. When strapped onto a vermillion red, plush leather watchband – the shadows remind those who wear the watch of its obsidian origin. In addition to crystals, Bozec felt equally as inspired by snow-covered mountains and other natural elements like stones. In order to evoke the image of snow, Bozec turned to CGI to develop a fabric for the watchband that mimicked the tightly-packed nature of snow, as he explains “CGI was the ideal way to materialize the intimate emotions born of the rawness of nature. The irregularities of the geological formations inspired the creation of the leather band. In the same manner, the fabric loop band stemmed from the lightness and softness invoked by the snowy environments.”

In addition to texture, through his 3D concept, Bozec also explored technology’s role in influencing how people think and feel. Bozec goes further to say, “My goal was to transpose feelings provided by [a] substance…on a smart and non-intrusive wearable device.” With the current influx of smart technology, too often a product’s textural design is sacrificed for the sake of preserving the user’s technological experience – Bozec set out to create a compromise. While Bozec considers the Obsidian Watch project more of an “emotional visual experiment,” than a full-fledged product design concept, the truth is that it could get away with being both.

Designer: Jean-François Bozec

Samsung’s Galaxy Smartwatch just got a makeover with a reimagined tank case shape that curves to match your wrist

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Back in 1999, Samsung launched the first-ever phone watch, SPH-WP10 so users could both tell time and make phone calls all from their wristwatches. Raising the bar ever since, Samsung has come out with some of the most stylish and high-tech smartwatches in circulation today. Sticking to the classics, Samsung’s smartwatches are known for their style. Some of Samsung’s Galaxy watches even embrace an analog display to prove a commitment to timekeeping tradition while fostering and delivering the latest electronics of today. Their tried-and-true recipe for building durable smartwatches have led to innovative designs like the fitness-tracking Fit2 and the glitzy, yet elegant 42-mm Rose Gold Galaxy. Introducing their own interpretation of Samsung’s Galaxy smartwatch, a California-based group of designers completely redesigned the electronic company’s smartwatch with a new display screen and watch bands.

Opting for a tank case shape for their smartwatch reinterpretation, the team of California-based designers equipped Samsung’s Galaxy smartwatch with a curved, vertical display panel. Curved monitors are quickly taking over flat screens with a deeper immersive viewing experience and fuller screen with more vibrant colors and graphics. The team then conceptualized nine different ideations for their smartwatch straps, since the functionality of a smartwatch relies on customizing its watch bands. With nine lives, the detachable watch face would theoretically be attached to the different watch straps utilizing a lock-in-place method. Each rectangular watch face locks into the different watch bands by either sliding into laser-cut, metal incisions, or slipping into adhesive silicone slots.

As we use our smartwatches for different activities throughout the day, the functionality of the watch is subject to change, and the team of designers behind this concept came prepared. When we’re in the office, counting our steps to pass the time or actually getting our work done, a supple leather watchband gives each wireless watch face a more refined look and softer feel for comfortable wear throughout the workday. Then, some time on the commute to the gym, we can swap out the leather band for an activewear one, suitable for working out or if we know sweat is coming up ahead. The designers’ take on an active watch features a slim, polycarbonate watchband with stainless steel-dipped ends, ensuring a secure bond between the watch face and strap so those workouts can stay long and sweaty. An additional seven watch bands from the team in California were conceptualized for their reimagined Samsung Galaxy smartwatch – scroll through and find your favorite!

Designers: Howard Nuk, Jeffrey Borges Jones, & Sun Son

This Apple Watch with iPhone 12-like flat edges may not be what fanboys desire!

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Apple Watch 6 was a headliner this year – a smartwatch with a new set of features and aesthetics, including a Product Red edition (first for the watch). Despite what Apple pulled off in the beefed interior and hardware, you may not notice that upfront, since the device comes in the same size and form factor as the Apple Watch Series 5. In fact, the new device looks identical to Cupertino’s watches from the last few years with a square design rounded at the edges and a digital crown offering haptic feedback.

There is no evidence that the Cupertino tech company is thinking of redesigning its smartwatch. But that is no deterrent for a designer to visualize what a new Apple Watch – a series 7 maybe – could look like, through his designs. For his renders, designer Wilson Nicklaus takes a cue from the transformed look of the iPhone 12 lineup and the newer iPads.

Apple this year returned to the very recognizable flat-edged form factor on the iPhone 12 models. This design, as you’d have noticed, is reminiscent of the more promising appearance of the iPhone 5. Now Nicklaus believes the Apple Watch with a similar flat edge design could be on the cards and he has the renders to show how it would fair if the idea meets fruition – it is just like the iPhone for your wrist. The concept only tinkers with the design of the casing – it shows a stainless steel version of the Apple Watch – very identical to the iPhone 12 Pro.

Nicklaus’ designs may seem clunky and could be slightly uncomfortable on the wrist because of the sharper details on the metal frame which the design envisions. It is arguable how Apple would make the flat-edged smartwatch as comfortable as the current Apple Watch models with rounded off edges – that if, Apple actually ventures on these design cues!

Designer: Wilson Nicklaus