Watch Out!

Studio 23 has taken a turn inward and created a set of watch faces for ourselves to test our design skills at a minimalist format. We chose the Amazfit Bip as a platform which is an inexpensive watch that allows for a fair amount of customization and has features for tracking pulse, weather, steps, mileage, and day, date, and of course, time. Working in the small space of a watch face presents many design issues. While the watch can display a lot of data, it became clear early on that as more information is displayed, it became more difficult to read. Unimportant numbers competed with more critical information and, ultimately, we found ourselves gravitating toward simpler, more visual faces. Other metrics are still available via swiping on the watch, but the primary messaging we’ve chosen to display is the time.

We also gravitated to analog faces for their intrinsic simplicity though the we are fond of the digital face with analog second hand. in the middle design. One interesting design note is that since the analog hands are virtual, in some cases we’ve reduced those to a simple marker that travels around the outside of the face rather than a true second hand. This allows us to keep the appearance of an analog watch while introducing something a bit unexpected. We’ve also included our signature orange 23 on several of the faces right where it belongs—between the 2 and the 3. Above are our favorites from the design exercise and if you’d like to download and install any of these faces on your Amazfit Bip, contact us. If you want to see more of our designs, you’ll just have to watch out.

Bitforms Gallery

Bitforms Gallery Website Design by Lee Willett / Studio 23

bitforms2_pageBitforms gallery asked Studio23 to update the design of their website by adding a host of new features, including videos and podcasts, without changing the simple, clean look of the site. Furthermore, while the content management system needed some upgrades, they didn’t want to have to learn a new management system.

Our solution? Create a new front-end that better shows the diverse work of their artists while upgrading their back-end system to allow for better management of new media files. The new system allows the administrator to upload and manage not only still graphics but video files that stream quickly—an important addition for a gallery whose artists’ work is often kinetic.

How does the system come together? See for yourself at bitforms.com.

Software Art Space Online

Software Art Space contacted Studio 23 to build a site that would showcase its line of computer artwork, take orders, process credit cards, transfer order data to the shipper and then process tracking information for the user, all with a minimum of maintenance. In short—build a store that runs itself. Studio 23 worked closely with all parties involved to make sure that orders from around the world could be placed and tracked securely without daily management by the client. But taking the orders is really the final goal of the site. First, we needed to educate the visitor as to what software art is. For that, we developed interactive modules that help explain the concept and its use.