DI: What is the main principle, idea and inspiration behind your design?
: Todd & Marlon timepieces are custom made to suit the needs of the people who create their own future - the entrepreneurs. This collection, in fact, has been inspired by the entrepreneurial spirit - the mindset of the entrepreneurs but also of many of us who approach personal life as entrepreneurs.
DI: What has been your main focus in designing this work? Especially what did you want to achieve?
: #YOURTIME has been carefully crafted for the entrepreneurs – for them every second counts and having an accurate view of time is a must. Entrepreneurs want to seize the day no matter what and a 24-hours dial allows them having the entire day at a glance hence helps better planning and organizing events – perfect for a busy person or someone who wants to live life to the fullest! By the way this watch is inspired by entrepreneurs and is meant also to sustain entrepreneurs. In fact we work very closely with the non-profit organization Spark MicroGrant to enable entrepreneurs in rural areas.
DI: What are your future plans for this award winning design?
: We have already started the commercialization of this watch collection via a successful crowdfunding campaign. We are also in talk with some retailers, dealers and distributors around the globe. By the way, in parallel we have also launched a second collection based on the same structure but with a 12-hour automatic movement instead of a 24-hour quartz.
DI: How long did it take you to design this particular concept?
: From the idea to the design didn't take long time. However, making the design more tangible for the people that are crafting it, took longer.
DI: Why did you design this particular concept? Was this design commissioned or did you decide to pursuit an inspiration?
: The design was not commissioned it was "just" an inspiration.
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?
: The watches are manufactured and commercialized by Todd & Marlon LLC (I'm the founder and CEO)
DI: What made you design this particular type of work?
: Passion for jewelry has always been in the family DNA. My grandfather was crafting jewels the old way. I still remember him using cuttlefish bones to prepare the molds for rings and my father helping him out with the stones. This passion seems to hold also with the new generation and one of my sons once asked me for his own watch so this is how I ended up designing watches.
DI: Where there any other designs and/or designers that helped the influence the design of your work?
: I don't work with professional designers and the only influencers are my sons and my wife.
DI: Who is the target customer for his design?
: The entrepreneurial spirits. People with the attitude to actively seeks out change, rather than waiting to adapt to change.
DI: What sets this design apart from other similar or resembling concepts?
: One of the many peculiar things is the double-XII dial. There are quite few 24-hour watches in the market but generally they indicate the time as 0-23 or 1-24. The double-XII (twice 1-12) system is practically not used on readily commercially available watches. I believe that this best reflect the way people talk about time while offering a 24-hour view at a glance.
DI: How did you come up with the name for this design? What does it mean?
: Entrepreneurs are amazing people and the most successful ones are master of time management. With #YOURTIME watches we wanted to celebrate their work and achievements. #YOURTIME is also a call to action for all the ‘want to be’ entrepreneurs. We want them to take the first step in the long and often difficult journey to success and we want to accompany them with #YOURTIME watches and much more… In a nutshell #YOURTIME is meant to remind you that life is too short not to take action.
DI: Which design tools did you use when you were working on this project?
: I'm not a professional designer and I'm very down-to-heart. The entire design has been done on a very simple tool - powerpoint - would you believe that?
DI: What is the most unique aspect of your design?
: One of the many peculiar things is the double-XII dial. There are quite few 24-hour watches in the market but generally they indicate the time as 0-23 or 1-24. The double-XII (twice 1-12) system is practically not used on readily commercially available watches. I believe that this best reflect the way people talk about time while offering a 24-hour view at a glance.
DI: Who did you collaborate with for this design? Did you work with people with technical / specialized skills?
: The design is 100% done by us with no influence from other parties
DI: How did you decide to submit your design to an international design competition?
: International design competition and especially A'Design Award are a great way to build credibility especially when the design is done by non professionals like in my case
DI: What did you learn or how did you improve yourself during the designing of this work?
: There is never ending to the search for perfection but if you want the design to end up in the hands of many then you need to stop somewhere.