The "ish" Watch For The Perpetually Casual. Clarification On The Designs And Pricing.

You might have seen this watch on various 'creative' sites and blog in the past week. A new watch by HYPHEN, The Indian Stretchable Time' / 'ish' watch, allows for some leeway when it comes to time. In lieu of your typical quarter hour markings, the "ish" watch has 12ish, 3ish, 6ish and 9ish printed askew on the white face.



Despite getting lots of recent press on sites such as Designboom, Comm Arts and other creative design blogs and e-mags, no one seems to have pointed out that the watch details seem to be inconsistent in terms of the hands, the second hand, the bezels and the straps shown in the images that have been posted.







The Actual "Ish" Watches Styles:
So, I wrote to Filter, the company for whom the watch was made, in hopes of getting both clarification on the design and price and I have. The watch is available in the following three designs.

BLACK/RED:

BLACK/WHITE:

BROWN/WHITE:


Note the following, despite the numerous photos in this post:
• All three straps have stitching in either red or white
• All three watches have different bezels.
• The Black/Red version has a red secondhand and red stitching on the band.
• The Black/ White Version has different hands on the face than the other two.
• The hands on the Black/Red and Brown/White version are pointed at the ends (not flat as in several of the photos) and despite the photos they sent me, I am not certain if they are black or chromed.

I do not know a thing about the crystal on the face, nor do I know if the bezels are stainless steel or chromed metal (given the price, I am guessing they are chromed metal). Other than the product shots and price, I received no more detail.

Each "Ish" watch costs $50 USD (excluding shipping charges).

Regardless of the face and bezel details, the beautiful packaging expresses the attitude and philosophy behind the wristwatch in text:





The designer, Prasanna Sankhe, describes the "Ish" watch in the following words:
In India, 'fashionably late' is safely replaced with 'predictably late'. Cow blockades, politician escorts, and cratered roads, compound the problem and offer a valid excuse. So when you reach half-an-hour after the appointed time, you don't explain yourself. You wait for the other person to arrive. We used this life insight, and added some dark humour to it.



We simply added a suffix to time periods. And moved the numerals from their classic perpendicular positions, tilting them to an approximate point on the dial. Hence six was not six. Eight was not eight. It was 'six-ish' and 'eight-ish'. Thus was born the 'ish Watch'.

The audience instantly connected with the watch, as it reminded them of the times they had been either the victim or culprit of tardiness. However, as a 'non-punctual' attitude is almost part of the Indian ethos, they bought into the idea and the watch, without delay.



Available at Filter, Kala Ghoda, Mumbai.
Contact them here to purchase the watch

Creative Director: Prasanna Sankhe
Designer: Prasanna Sankhe
Writer: Cyrus Daruwala
Photographer: Ashish Vaidya
Music: Ferzad Variyava
Producer: Fabian Fernandes
Editor: Basu
Fabricator: Suresh
Agency coordinator: Jennifer Fernandes

About HYPHEN:

Started in 2011, by Alok Nanda, founder of Alok Nanda & company, and Prasanna Sankhe, ex National Creative Director of Publicis Ambience India, HYPHEN is the first brand engagement product agency in India.

Limited Edition Typography Scrabble For Designers, Typohiles and Font Lovers.

A special edition of the classic Scrabble board game made of solid walnut wood tiles which each feature a variety of fonts has been created by Andrew Clifford Capener.





The game board is lined with slip free cork and made up of six panels which come in a walnut wood storage case with drawers.





Metal tile racks and a Birch wood box complete the set, which is signed and numbered.




all images courtesy of Andrew Capener

Only 2100 sets were made and there are very few left.

Key Features:
• Beautiful solid walnut storage case with drawer
• Six-panel solid walnut magnetized gameboard lined with slip free cork
• Beautiful solid birch cover
• Metal tile racks
• Solid walnut tiles featuring a variety of different and exciting fonts
• Each limited edition set will also be signed and numbered

Product Dimensions: 19.00” x 17.50” x 6.00”

Pre-Order Now Here
Price: $199
Available: August 2012

Thanks to Daily Design Joint for bringing this to my attention via Materialicious

Etch A Sketch Makes News. And Art. And Now, A New Ad Campaign.

above composite by laura sweet

above: Mitt Romney Etch Art by George Vlosich

Yes, Etch A Sketch has recently been all over the news as a result of what some are calling a political 'scandal' or a 'gaffe' when an aide for presidential hopeful Mitt Romney compared it with Romney's fall election strategy (see video below).



Smartly, Etch A Sketch has turned this to their advantage with a new ad campaign by Team Detroit, two of whose new ads are shown below.





Sales for the 104 year old toy have increased by 1500% in the last week and on Thursday afternoon, the Ohio Arts Company also started ShakeItUpAmerica.net, a site with links for both voter registration and Etch A Sketch retailers.



Coincidentally, I had begun a blog post on the most talented Etch-A-Sketch artists just prior to this recent incident. So, given all the buzz about the toy and the recent increase in sales, now is a good time to inspire you all with the following.



There are several artists who actually create permanent artwork on the classic Ohio Art Company's Etch-A-Sketch (and more are listed at the end of this post), but George Vlosich III is one of the most talented and prolific of the bunch. An artist who works in many mediums, he is best known for his ability to create fantastic and awe inspiring portraits on that old beloved toy with the red plastic frame.



He's transformed the classic Ohio Art brand Etch-A-Sketch from a child's toy into a collection of pop art that been featured in museums and galleries across the country and the originals sell for thousands of dollars. Each is an original work of art that takes 70-80 hours to create.



He has rendered montages of politicians, celebrities, musicians, athletes, movie casts, cities and countries in the familiar red framed toy.

Barack Obama and Lincoln memorial:


The Royal Wedding of Prince William to Kate Middleton:

Elvis:


Michael Jackson:

Jay-Z:

Cal Ripken Jr.:

Magic Johnson:

Tiger Woods:

James Lebron, MVP:

Gone With The Wind:

The cast of Gangs of New York:

Muhammed Ali:

Americana:

New York:

Las Vegas:


He has been featured on shows such as Oprah, The Late Show with David Letterman and ABC – 20/20 to name a few. He created a Paul McCartney piece (shown below) specifically for Art Basel 2011 which was displayed with the Verne Gallery:

The Paul McCartney piece for Art Basel Miami in progress:



How does he do it?
George carefully plans out the image by sketching in a notebook before starting any work on the Etch. He designs as much as he can that will fit on the 5 x 7 inch screen.



He works meticulously with the line and if he makes a mistake, he has to start over. he begins by getting all the line work of the portraits in first.



Once he gets all the line work in and is confident it looks like his intended subject, he begins to shade. He claims that is the easy part, but also the most time consuming and tedious. What looks like one line may be traced over between ten to fifteen times. To actually do the shading from light to dark may require a line being traced over 20 to 30 times.



Once the work is complete, he has to make sure that it can never be erased. Aluminum powder is inside the Etch-A-Sketch and sticks to the glass when you shake it. A stylus inside scratches off the powder, thus creating the image. George must carefully remove both the powder and stylus so that the image on the screen becomes permanent.



Once the Etch is complete, George photographs each final artwork for his website, and his own personal collection.



Chances are, most of my readers can't afford originals or commissioned pieces, but you can purchase limited edition numbered and signs prints and giclées of many of George's Etch-A-Sketch portraits.

Original commissioned Etch-a-Sketch artwork by George Vlosich III start at $3,000. These are detailed one-of-a-kind gallery pieces that have taken him 20 years to perfect. The final Etch-A-Sketch creation is made permanent, signed, framed, and shipped to you.

Below is a video of George creating his Obama Etch a Sketch as part of the Black History celebration:


For the first time, through the studio of GV Art + Design they are now offering quicker, simple personalized Etch-A-Sketches created from a photograph. The price for a simple one portrait Etch A Sketch is $725.00. Additional portraits can be added for an additional cost. For your purchase, you will receive a permanent Etch-A-Sketch of your portrait shipped and delivered to you.

*Please Note: These are personal pictures ONLY: no athletes, celebrities or iconic images will be created. The artwork created on these Etch A Sketches are done by the GV Art + Design studio and not done by George Vlosich III.



Buy prints and giclees of George's Etch-A-Sketch art here.

George also creates sports illustrations for posters, t-shirts and more. See all of his work at his website.

Other Etch-A-Sketch Artists

Yes, I am aware that there are several other talented Etch-A-Sketch artists out there. Below are just a few, many of whom will create commissioned portraits or sell prints of their work.

Jeff Gagliardi:

Ron Morse:

Pauline Graziano:

Kevin E. Davis:

Nicole Falzone:

And Christoph Brown who etches on the pocket sized version of the Etch-A-Sketch:


Other Etch-A-Sketch artists worth mentioning and whose work you can see in the Ohio Art Hall Of Fame:
Eric Rowlett
Tim George
Andrea Malenich
Shea Baker
Stacy King

And for those who love the nostalgia of the Etch-A Sketch, be sure to check out the awesome Official Etch-a-sketch iPad case!


images for this post are courtesy of the individual artist and the Ohio Art Company