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Embrace
Incense clock - An innovative solution of perceiving time

Product design

Mission Statement

Have you imagined a world without a clock? Can we perceive time in an interesting way? Nowadays, modern people are the slaves of time and smart devices, constantly checking their watches and clocks from time to time to catch up with all the daily tasks. The design objective aims to find a  simple and intuitive way to perceive time and spend your day in a good mood.

sun position.png

Time is the most crucial factor for ancient human beings to survive. Through thousands of years, the most primitive and Intuitive approach people are still using to perceive time is looking up at the sky to confirm the color, angle, and brightness of the Sun. In addition, The color wheel can help us know how the Sun changes color and temperature from warm to cold and from dawn to dusk.

Ideation

The scent is another interesting physiological cue. Just as the smell of grass in the early morning lets us know, a nice day begins; the appetizing aroma reminds us that it is time to have a great meal; the relaxing fragrance of lavender gently whispers to us to lie down in a cozy bed. 

Context

Combining these two physical cues, sight and smell, the new incense clock allows us to perceive time from the changes of colors, from red to violet, and the changes of fragrances. In addition, as time goes by, the length of incenses becomes shorter; and the colorful incenses will gradually turn into light gray ash that implies time is flying and can never go back.  While we are appreciating the Embrace, the beautiful smoke floats between all incenses of different shapes, mountains, clouds, Sun and Moon,  creating a living ink wash painting.  The visual enjoyment and enchanting fragrance enable us to escape from the digital world and the busy life and embrace every single wonderful thing in our life.

Incense Layout

Making Incense Cones & incense Sticks

Prototyping

Embrace is an incense clock that Combines two smells and visual cues. It allows users to perceive time from the changes of colors, from red to violet, and the changes of fragrances. 

Designer                              Steve Chang                     

2021

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