IceClock

An Icehouse Themed Analog Clock

January 1998

Explanation

The IceClock was one of my first "I can go directly from design to product on this one, through the magic of printing on stickers" projects. Basically, I had the idea, went out and bought a clock, designed the IceClock to match the dimensions of the clock, printed out the designs onto stickers, disassembled the clock, stuck the stickers onto the appropriate pieces, and reassembled the clock.

The dimensions for the stickers came directly out of the work I was doing with Icehouse pieces, so I didn't even have to figure them out, I already had them on my computer. The clock pictured above was actually already in my house, though I later bought another one so I could re-do the clock as a gift for the Looneys.

I'm writing this commentary in March of 2002, more than four years after completing this project. The clock is right here on my desk. It's right here on my desk instead of next to my bed because it ticks. Nothing keeps me awake worse than a clock ticking next to my bed. TICK TICK TICK. If I wanted that kind of reminder of my mortality, I'd have a deathwatch beetle implanted in my sinus cavities.

Anyway, the clock takes a little getting used to because the minute hand is the 2-pointer and the hour hand is the 3-pointer. Most clocks have the hour hand be the shorter of the two. This change was necessary because otherwise the hour hand would have been hidden behind the minute hand once every hour. I didn't like that idea. Also, this means that once an hour the pieces are all pointing the same way, which makes a neat little stack of triangles.