Designer Axel Schindlbeck has teamed up with software engineer Fred Mauclere to manufacture a digital clock where you have to calculate the hours and minutes in order to know the time. Schindlbeck came up with the idea for the clock in 2008 as part of his thesis (axelperiment.wordpress.com), a project which consisted of designing 50 products in 50 days.
The Albert Clock, one of the 50 designs, was intended to turn boredom inside school classes into mental calculation skills. It shows simple mathematical equations that need to be solved in order to read the time.
Schindlbeck gave the standard alphanumeric segment font a redesign, with an improved readability of numbers and mathematical symbols. The clock has a hand lacquered matt finish, offers a crisp white LED display and provides 6 different levels of difficulty that adapt to one’s individual skills.
“At one point, I felt the need to discover something new and I was excited by the idea of developing independently my own ideas, through playful concepts that have a curious and positive hold on everyday life. It’s a true responsibility, and you just go from scratch to the final product on your own,” says Schindlbeck.
Mauclere helped him to put his idea into reality, he wrote the software and developed all electronic parts: “we had some experience together, but we still needed to discover the complexity and the odds of an industrial manufacturing process.”
Founded on Kickstarter in August 2015, the Albert Clock is now available for purchase for €279.00 (about $317.00 USD) here.