Final Prototype.

This is the final model of the Guess the Time clock, as exhibited.

Prototyping

I intended the housing for the guess the time clock to be very simple, not over designed, just a shell that would fit the inner workings and have a clear, ergonomical form. The tilted facia enables the user to have a clearer view of the screen as well as easier use of the mounted keypad.

The choice to use wood as the base material was an aesthetic one as well as being easily attainable. I liked the contrast between the organic wood grain and the animated screen.

Can wolves use a keyboard?

As colour had been a strong aesthetic throughout my project, I felt this was the obvious way to go with the guess the time clock. I would use colour as the accuracy indicator. Some way of showing the user how close they had guessed to the real time.

After establishing a structure of what I wanted the object to do, I then needed to find a way to apply it. A Flash animation seemed the simplest option, coding a digital clock face to change colour as the time was entered. As you typed in your guessed time, depending on how close to the real time you were, the digits would turn pinker for earlier or greener for later. So you would know if the digits turned this colour, you had guessed around 15 minutes later than the real time.

I then wanted to house this screen animation with a keyboard to create one object.

Real-world applications

From the "What's the Time, Mr. Wolf" document, I found people took a certain enjoyment out of being able to guess at the time. There was a certain competitive edge to it amongst participants. I hadn't considered that the findings would be of interest to anyone but myself. However, all participants requested confirmation of their own accuracy and how it compared to others. Some wanted a second shot at it.

It began to uncover itself as a potential learning tool. It could be a way of gauging your own personal accuracy at guessing the time against the real time. If I could design a way to structure a built in accuracy indicator, the user could learn their own patterns and improve.

Could this remove the need for a standard clock?

I wanted to consider how this could work as a real world application. I decided it would need to expand from 2D into a working object.

What's the Time, Mr. Wolf?

This started out as a very basic level investigation into peoples relationship with clocks and time, as a construct. I wanted to see if there was a pattern or average in how accurately people were able to guess the time without the use of a clock.

I created this document to gather my findings aesthetically. The user was asked to guess the time (without cheating, thank you) by colouring in the appropriate digits.

The design was inspired from a project by Maarten Baas that considered how our measurement and understanding of time would be altered if we ourselves became the clock. (See it here)

Remember, wolves don't wear watches.

NTWICC, Live.

So finally, here is Now That's What I Call Cooking in action. In a lot of action.

Now That's What I Call Cooking (feat. Talking Heads) from Rachel Howe on Vimeo.

NTWICC

So here is how 'Now That's What I Call Cooking' turned out.

These are the final prototype models.

Apple Timer

Japanese designer, Che-Wei-Wang has also looked into the concept of alternative methods of communicating time. He says, "Can we watch decay? Can we see glass as a fluid slowly slumping and deforming over time? Everything is in constant flux, yet we consider many things around us static and fixed." It was this idea of decay that I found to be most interesting.

As the previous part of my project had taken place in my kitchen, I realised I was surrounded by decaying materials.

So, I picked an apple. I took a bite and captured an image of this one apple every minute, over an hour. I wanted to question whether the browning of this apple was a method of time keeping that I would feel comfortable with. And, it wasn't. As a timing device, it's subjective, variable. Unreliable.

But I thought there was something quite poetic about this narrative of this one apple at this one time, in this one place. For that one hour, it did keep time. So I turned this narrative into a book, documenting this apple's story. It features removable swatches at the back that track the apples colour over the hour, so, in theory, you could apply it to your own apple.

Measuring Time Through Litres.

(Photo by Tomas Valenzuela Blejer)

Domes-Tick-Tock

Whilst living without clocks, I began to take more notice of how long activities took to complete. I knew how long I took to get ready in the morning, how long my toaster took to perfect my toast. I decided to try applying this to tangible, readable means.

I had timed a range of my kitchen appliances and chose to present this graphically. After using a timeline to connect these time spans, I then singled out individual appliances and documented their range of potential timings. By tagging a toaster or a kettle with this information, I was then able to use these objects as timers in their own rights, removing the need for a standard kitchen timer.

Living by the Clock...

This was perhaps one of the most pivotal parts of my project, my pursuit of Timelordianship.

I kept a diary, wherein I put all my daily activities and consequential observations to specific times. I then flipped the diary, and the rules. I removed all my clocks and continued to keep a diary of my observations as a result of this.

As this had been such a focal point of my process, I wanted to design a way of communicating what I'd learnt to others. As well as a way of allowing them to take part in their own experiment. What resulted was a takeaway booklet that encourages the user to live by the clock for a week, with the potential to then remove their clocks and continue to make observations.

I gave these away at the exhibition, to anyone who seemed interested in my project process.

Or who liked the colour of the paper.

About Time...

It has been pretty crazy recently, what with my degree ending and having to put on an exhibition. As a result, I have an un-blogged backlog.

So get here we go, June's going to be a busy month.

CD (Cookery Disc)

NTWICC has now progressed to a level that might not cause people to go into a frantic panic when used. Which I think is good. It is now user specific, basing a recipe around the most listened to album on their iTunes. The familiar songs are rearranged in a way that fits within the timings of the recipe, using the beginnings and ends of songs as measurements.

I wanted the graphic identity to allow it to sit nicely alongside cookery books. Et ouila.

Badhesive

I don't know what's better, that this exists, or that my dad genuinely buys and uses it.

I AM BECOMING TIMELORD.

I will take your clocks and pillage your homes.

You will feel anger, like this:

Shower o'clock

How to become Time Lord:
Step2. Attach my daily activities to specific times of the day.

Its '186 M' O'Clock

I like the idea of telling the time of day using colour.
The colour of the sky changes over the day, so what if we had to rely on this to tell the time?
I want it to work as an alternative reliable way of telling time.
Perhaps it might incorporate the changing shades of the sky, so it could be used as a self -education tool. From reading this 'clock' I would eventually be able to read the sky.

If not, it sure looks purdy.

Spin+Kettle+Toaster+Salt+Pan+Oven= ......

How to become Time Lord:
Step 1. Time how long every domestic appliance in my kitchen takes to complete its job.

Now That's What I Call Cooking (Vol. 1)

I have begun looking into the idea of using other methods or objects as time keeping devices.
The most successful and certainly most interesting has been the concept and model for a CD that you can cook along to. It includes a CD of 6 (loosely) food related tracks and a recipe that involves using specific points within the soundtrack as a gauge of timings.
FOR EXAMPLE, one step reads; "Start slicing the red onion as the first chorus of Fat Children opens..."
This was to examine whether I would be comfortable using an unofficial method of timing whilst undergoing a task where timings are quite important. I was not.
I definitely intend to develop this object further, maybe give it to a couple of friends/colleagues to try out. Here are a couple of images from my... experience. (They are a bit blurry because as soon as the CD started I became flustered and manic).

What do you Give a Food Lover for Their Birthday?

That's right, massive, lurid pink, homemade cupcakes.

Wise Anti-Clocks

I have progressed with my final project to a stage where I am now trying to communicate my research into Reliance through a single object.
The object I have opted for is the clock.
At the moment, I'm just taking apart 99p travel clocks and distorting their function/visual language/familiarity, as a way of questioning their reliability.
Here are some examples...






I took one apart a little too much and now can't get it back together...

I'm sure it goes something like this though.

Context Reported

Today is hand-in day for our Context Report documents so I thought I would take a few photos while it is still in decent condition. This is not to imply that they get marked down the pub by a rabble of rowdy lectures who use them as beer mats/ash trays. But honestly, you never know.

I could explain a little about its content (because, as Desmond kindly pointed out "Doesn't that title just apply to everything?"), but for now I will just put up some pretty pictures.
Overall though, it is focussed on the idea of the relationship between user and object being based on reliance and how, as a designer, I am able to manipulate this.
I will post a more detailed abstract soon.

So, here it is I hope you like it:


I heart transparency paper.

Christmas and Context Reports.

This is (a poor photograph of) my mum's crimbo present last year. She is is a character that features in my illustrated cards and mum has become quite fond of her.
I wasn't as creative this year. Although I was just as frugal (part of mums present this year was a small card announcing I was cooking Christmas roast and giving her the day off).

Recently, my time has been taken up by theoretical workings (I'm currently writing my Contextual Report) so I haven't had much to show. But, the writing is (potentially) over and I am now on to the design of the document.
Thing is though, in all my remembering how to write, I have now forgotten how to design.