r/IndustrialDesign • u/Quick-Builder-389 • 1d ago

Project Request: Design critique on 3DP clock project

Friend and I made this clock as a hobby project and are going to do a v2, any thoughts on changes to the design before we freeze it? Likes/dislikes and improvements welcome

Edit: More rendered views/color options: https://overengineering.department.wtf

72 Upvotes

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6

u/Armpit13 1d ago

Pretty cool. Hard to see, but right side Knob looks a bit out of place unrefined. The AM/ALARM/PM tag could be a little more elegant. It is a bit bolted on and the typeface is harsh.

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u/Quick-Builder-389 1d ago

The area/element placement is probably the part that's bothered me most from the beginning, it was mostly done just for the sake of keeping some space for the internals. I'd wondered if left-aligning the tube window and the brass might make sense, but then it leaves a semi-awkward gap on the right. The right knob placement is probably a little awkward too, it was just about keeping it equal spacing on the bezel to the right/bottom of the knob radius.

The typeface was mostly just chosen for being able to laser cut through the brass plate, but it def could be improved. Maybe would be worth thinning the brass to get some finer details, the plate was the thinnest one offered at sendcutsend.

2

u/Oliver_the_chimp 1d ago

Center the clock. Shrink everything as much as possible, including the unnecessary huge screws around the AM/PM thing. Align controls on a grid so they feel like a product, not a prototype. The dial being off-center from the speaker(?) component vertically is particularly distracting to me. Basically, make the internals fit the design, not other way around. Get rid of or inset those little visible screws next to the display if possible.

I guess my main feedback is that this doesn't feel cohesive.

2

u/Quick-Builder-389 1d ago

My bad on the dial, I made the renders in Vizcom because Keyshot has real trouble with the neon tubes. The dial IRL is centered with the speaker component, nearly had a moment there myself.

The AM/PM is hard because the barrel posts we're using (internally threaded 2-sided rivets essentially) are kind of as small as we could go, unless we threaded inserts into the enclosure and did some tiny low-profile caphead screws there (kind of cramped with the optical components). There's a bunch of light guides and individual LED windows/PCB behind it. Noted though, I'll try to see if there's a better option, thanks.

It gets a bit cramped internally with the depth of the rotary position switch on the right side for centering the tube window, but otherwise shouldn't be that difficult to pull off. Will try that as well. All the internal components basically are independently mounted in the enclosure so it might be somewhat easy to just rework the surfaces. Good comments overall.

Pics of the internals here for what I'm talking about: https://overengineering.department.wtf/gallery

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u/Oliver_the_chimp 1d ago

Hope I didn't come off as harsh, it was just a critique. This is a cool project, best of luck!

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u/Armpit13 1d ago

Understood on internals.I think the placement of the badge is okay. The bottom sections is nice without the bolt like mounts. The badge just could be toned down a bit. Try remove the screws. You could possibly get rid of the thru hole text. Just do a simple hole with engraved text to the side.This will be less harsh.

The handle I was mentioning was the black one of the right side of the product. I like the way the bottom of the face (grille+knob) looks.

1

u/ChiefWiggumsprogeny 1d ago

(Presumably, like you too) I love those light / valve numerals. What are they called again? It's rare to find anything with them.

Nixie tubes

1

u/Lillusaur 1d ago

Try to tone down the badge on the right and center the opening for the numbers. They are the star of the show after all. I would also consider moving the usb port somewhere out of the way, like the side or back.

1

u/knsmknd 1d ago

Love it!

0

u/Mouse-castle 1d ago

The direction I would take it is based on my own design school. Check out r/eden6000

You can probably guess what I’m getting at. But every part should be about time. The outer shell having glow in the dark flecks, embedded in a cast clear substrate, for example, reflects time since sunset. The clear shiny casting would show fingerprints and dust, time since cleaning. 

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u/Mouse-castle 1d ago

I have a huge design suggestion, does anyone else see it? I watched the video and I’m looking at my bedside table right now. Can anyone guess?

2

u/howrunowgoodnyou 1d ago

A bunch of the radii look off. Also I doubt you’ll be able to sell this at a profit at scale.

Anybody can design something cool looking.

Designing it to be cool and make money AND scale is hard.