Muse Isura Yubwenge by Alex Pan Yong is a highly esteemed winner of the very prestigious 2021 Igihembo cya A' Design Award cy'icyuma in Igishushanyo cy'Uburyo bwo Gukoresha Competition Category.

IcyumaUburyo bwo Gukoresha· 2021

Muse Isura Yubwenge

by Alex Pan Yong

Client: Artalex

Igihembo cya A' Design Award cy'icyuma Winner in Uburyo bwo Gukoresha Category

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Colors

The Design

About Muse Isura Yubwenge

Muse ni isura yubwenge idasa nisaha gakondo. Amateka ya totemic ni ikintu cyingenzi cyo kuvuga isaha, hamwe hamwe na glake-nkimitsi kugirango yerekane umunota. Guhuza kwabo mu kinyabupfura byerekana igihe cyigihe. Muri rusange amabuye y'agaciro asa cyane atanga uburambe bwabakoresha.

The Recognition

About the Igihembo cya A' Design Award cy'icyuma

Muse Isura Yubwenge ni uwegukanye Igihembo cya A' Design Award cy'icyuma, ishimwe ry'agaciro ritangwa ku bishushanyo byiza bihuza ibyo umwuga n'inganda bikeneye ku bihangano byashushanyijwe neza. Abegukanye icyuma bagaragaza ubuhanga bukomeye, ubumenyi bwihariye, imyumvire y'inzobere n'ubushobozi bwo guhanga bw'ababikoze. Muse Isura Yubwenge biteganyijwe ko izaba igihangano cyubahwa, gishimwa kandi gikundwa, gifatika kandi gifite udushya. Iki gishushanyo cyegukanye icyuma gihuza uburyo bwiza bukoreshwa mu nganda kandi gifite ibiranga bya tekiniki bifite ubushobozi, bifatanye n'ubumenyi n'impano. Muse Isura Yubwenge yubahwa kubera gukora neza, kandi yashushanyijwe kugira ngo inoze ubuzima, ifashe gutuma isi iba nziza.

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.