Skip to content

Press Release

DesignNewswire · COMO, Italy ·

Muse Smartwatch Face by Alex Pan Yong Wins the A' Design Award in Interface, Interaction and User Experience Design

Alex Pan Yong honored for interface, interaction and user experience design by the international grand jury of the 2020 - 2021 A' Design Award & Competition

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

COMO, Italy, April 23, 2021 /DesignNewswire/ Muse Smartwatch Face by Alex Pan Yong, designed for Artalex, has been granted the A' Design Award in the Interface, Interaction and User Experience Design category, A' Design Award & Competition has announced. The award was conferred within the 2020 - 2021 A' Design Award & Competition and was decided through blind peer review by an international grand jury panel of established academics, design professionals and press members, who scored anonymized entries against predetermined criteria.

About the A' Design Award

The Iron A' Design Award is awarded to good designs that meet the rigorous professional and industrial standards set by the A' Design Awards. This recognition is reserved for works that demonstrate a solid understanding of design principles and show creativity within their execution. Recipients of the Iron A' Design Award are acknowledged for their practical innovations and contributions to their respective fields, providing solutions that improve quality of life and foster positive change. These designs are a testament to the skill and dedication of their creators, showcasing their ability to address real-world challenges through thoughtful design.

Regarding Muse Smartwatch Face

The Muse is a smartwatch face that does not look like a traditional watch. Its totemic background is the key element to tell the hour, and together with a glare-like stroke to point out the minute. The combination of them politely conveys the sense of time flow. The overall gemstone looking greatly renders an exotic user experience.

About Alex Pan Yong

Pan Yong, also known as Alex, is a Singaporean artist renowned for his innovative approach to art. Graduating from Lasalle College of the Arts in 2007 with a degree in interactive art, he embarked on a journey to explore the fusion of art and technology. With a fervent belief in the transformative power of this combination, Pan Yong delves into uncharted territories where artistry meets technological prowess. His creations serve as bridges between these seemingly disparate domains, pushing the boundaries of traditional art and embracing the boundless possibilities of technology.

Award Record

With this recognition, Alex Pan Yong is a winner of 4 A' Design Awards. The awards were granted between the 2018 - 2019 and the 2020 - 2021 editions of the A' Design Award & Competition.

About the A' Interface, Interaction and User Experience Design Award

The A' Interface Design Award is an international design competition recognizing good user interface designs by the best UI/UX designers worldwide. It is organized within the A' Design Award & Competition and is open to interface designers, interaction designers, user experience designers and digital product designers from all countries. Typical entries include websites, mobile applications, software interfaces, game interfaces, wearable interfaces and virtual reality interfaces. The awarded interface designs are published at https://dezigners.org/design-category/interface

About A' Design Award & Competition

Organized annually since 2008, A' Design Award & Competition is an international, juried design accolade. The competition is open to entries from all countries. The philanthropic mission of the A' Design Award is to advance society through good design, by recognizing and promoting superior products, projects and services that benefit society, and by creating a global awareness and appreciation for good design practices and principles. Nominations are peer reviewed and evaluated anonymously by an international grand jury panel of established academics, design professionals and press members against predetermined criteria such as functionality, ergonomics, engineering, presentation, innovation, usability, sustainability and technology, with score normalization applied to remove biases. Awards are conferred at Platinum, Gold, Silver, Bronze and Iron levels. Eligible laureates receive the A' Design Prize, which includes the award trophy, the certificate of design excellence, the hardcover yearbook, a lifetime license to use the A' Design Award winner logo, exhibition of awarded works, an invitation to the gala night and award ceremony in Italy, inclusion in the World Design Rankings and Designer Rankings, and public relations and publicity services. Registration, uploading a work and receiving a preliminary score are free of charge, and Professional and Digital Edition laureates are not contractually obliged to pay further fees to claim the A' Design Prize. More information is available at https://competition.adesignaward.com

Press Resources

Media Contact

Giulia Ferrari, Press Office
Designers.Org
Via Leone Leoni 32, 22100 Como, Italy
press@designers.org
+39 031 4491953

###

Fact Sheet

The Work

Project
Muse Smartwatch Face
Function
Smartwatch Face
Category
Interface, Interaction and User Experience Design
Discipline
Communication Design
Industry
Software
Colors
Dark Slate Gray, Dim Gray, Medium Sea Green and Black
Images
5
Client
Artalex

The Recognition

Laureate
Alex Pan Yong
Country
Singapore
Recognition
A' Design Award
Edition
2020 - 2021
Design ID
#110651

Credits

Image Credits
Photographer Pan Yong, Main image, 2020.; Photographer Pan Yong, Single shot, 2020.; Photographer Pan Yong, Group shot, 2020.

Design Details

Unique Properties
The Muse is a smartwatch face that tells the time while doesn't look like any traditional watch face as we usually thought. It looks more towards the combination of stone and gem. The feeling it conveys is more close to the nature while still keeps the beauty of gem.
Inspiration
The inspiration came from a casual sketch that I was aimlessly drawing on my iPad when I sit in a bar. As the strokes went on, the sketch became a kind of totem. Then, the idea came out. Let this totem-like graphic tells the time, combining the feeling of nature. Let it be the main element of my smartwatch face. Make it looks like a kind of gemstone.
Research
Nothing much about the research. The idea just came out suddenly from my aimless sketch. At that moment, I had the feeling of making it a non-traditional watch face. Just follow the heart.
Challenge
The hardest part of this design is to make the overall looking "less-look-like-watch", and feels ancient. I want to make it look more like a gemstone rather than a watch, meanwhile it still tells you the time and other information.
Realization and Technology
I aimlessly drew a sketch on my iPad. The sketch turned out to be the main element of the design. The app I used on iPad is Procreate. Once finished the drawing, exported into Photoshop, separate different layers for different hours. Then, export these layers (12 layers) into png images. After that, import these 12 layers into Facer (watch face making app), use programming to control which layer should be highlighted in which hour. For example, layer 1 will be highlighted when 1 am/pm. So, that's how to tell the hour. For the minute, I use a glare-like stroke to represent the glare from the light (the beauty of nature).
Operation and Interaction
The design is already released on Facer app. Go to Facer app or website (facer.io), search "Artalex", and look for the name "Muse". Click the "send to watch" button to sync the design into your smartwatch. You need the Facer app installed on your smartwatch.
Project Duration and Location
The project started in February 2020 in Singapore and finished in September 2020, and is released on Face app and WatchMaker app in September 2020.
Specifications
The dimension of this design is 400 x 400px on Android watch, 360 x 360px on Samsung watch. It supports both round and square smartwatches.
Keywords
gem, nature, stone, ancient, gemstone, nostalgia, luxury, informative

Good Design Deserves Great Recognition

Nominate Your Work for the A' Design Award.

Nominate