Muse Cara by Alex Pan Yong is a highly esteemed winner of the very prestigious 2021 A' Design Award de Ferro in Deseño de Interface, Interacción e Experiencia de Usuario Competition Category.

FerroInterface· 2021

Muse Cara

by Alex Pan Yong

Client: Artalex

A' Design Award de Ferro Winner in Interface Category

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Verified Award Winner

Verify Award Status for #110651

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Colors

The Design

About Muse Cara

O Muse é un reloxo intelixente que non se parece a un reloxo tradicional. O seu fondo totémico é o elemento clave para dicir a hora, e xunto cun trazo de brillo para sinalar o minuto. A combinación deles transmite educadamente a sensación do fluxo do tempo. O aspecto xeral da pedra preciosa fai unha experiencia de usuario exótica.

The Recognition

About the A' Design Award de Ferro

Muse Cara gañou o A' Design Award de Ferro, un recoñecemento prestixioso outorgado a bos deseños que cumpren os requisitos profesionais e industriais esperados de creacións ben deseñadas. Os gañadores Ferro demostran a gran habilidade, a alta especialización, a comprensión experta e a capacidade creativa dos seus creadores. Espérase que Muse Cara sexa unha creación moi apreciada, admirada e querida que é práctica e innovadora. Este deseño gañador do A' Design Award de Ferro integra as mellores prácticas do sector e ten características técnicas competentes ligadas ao saber facer e ao talento. Muse Cara é respectado pola súa minuciosidade e está deseñado para proporcionar melloras na calidade de vida que axudan a facer do mundo un lugar mellor.

Behind the Design

Press Kit

Credits, team members and technical details provided by the designer.

Unique Properties: The Muse is a smartwatch face that tells the time while doesn't look like any traditional watch face as we usually thought. It looks more towards the combination of stone and gem. The feeling it conveys is more close to the nature while still keeps the beauty of gem.
Dimensions & Packaging: The dimension of this design is 400 x 400px on Android watch, 360 x 360px on Samsung watch. It supports both round and square smartwatches.
Tags: gem, nature, stone, ancient, gemstone, nostalgia, luxury, informative
Production Technology: I aimlessly drew a sketch on my iPad. The sketch turned out to be the main element of the design. The app I used on iPad is Procreate. Once finished the drawing, exported into Photoshop, separate different layers for different hours. Then, export these layers (12 layers) into png images. After that, import these 12 layers into Facer (watch face making app), use programming to control which layer should be highlighted in which hour. For example, layer 1 will be highlighted when 1 am/pm. So, that's how to tell the hour. For the minute, I use a glare-like stroke to represent the glare from the light (the beauty of nature). At the centre of the watch face, I put those essential information such as date, step count, battery level, so that the user can still grab the information really quickly. For the numbers around the watch face, I use roman numerals to give the sense of antique, as well as add on different colours to make the overall looking more like ancient gemstone.
Design Challenge: The hardest part of this design is to make the overall looking "less-look-like-watch", and feels ancient. I want to make it look more like a gemstone rather than a watch, meanwhile it still tells you the time and other information.
Research: Nothing much about the research. The idea just came out suddenly from my aimless sketch. At that moment, I had the feeling of making it a non-traditional watch face. Just follow the heart.
Inspiration: The inspiration came from a casual sketch that I was aimlessly drawing on my iPad when I sit in a bar. As the strokes went on, the sketch became a kind of totem. Then, the idea came out. Let this totem-like graphic tells the time, combining the feeling of nature. Let it be the main element of my smartwatch face. Make it looks like a kind of gemstone.
Project Duration: The project started in February 2020 in Singapore and finished in September 2020, and is released on Face app and WatchMaker app in September 2020.
Operation Flow: The design is already released on Facer app. Go to Facer app or website (facer.io), search "Artalex", and look for the name "Muse". Click the "send to watch" button to sync the design into your smartwatch. You need the Facer app installed on your smartwatch.
Patents: Copyrights belong to Alex Pan Yong, 2020
Image Credits: Image #1: Photographer Pan Yong, Main image, 2020.
Image #2: Photographer Pan Yong, Single shot, 2020.
Image #3: Photographer Pan Yong, Single shot, 2020.
Image #4: Photographer Pan Yong, Single shot, 2020.
Image #5: Photographer Pan Yong, Group shot, 2020.