TITAN CASE SHAPE VARIANTS

There are several case shapes in the design of watches - you have rectangles, squares (which mind you, are not perfect squares), circles, ovals and many mix breeds of the basic shapes. To understand how the design of different case shapes work and how a design language project could accommodate for them, a study was undertaken to draft different case shapes from the multiple sub brands and collections. Iconic models from different collections were chosen on the basis of how well they reflected their collection/ sub brand and what kind of variety they added to the entire palette. Each model was scaled within - 3.6 to 5 times the original size to make the design footprint constant at the dial opening.

Since watches are small and the proportion systems dense and precise, freehand sketching was not favored for this study. This part of the project involved hand drafting with measurements and geometric tools. The drafting of the these watches gave insight into the kind of proportion systems used for watches. For instance, size is often used to determine whether the design of the watch is classic or contemporary. Ideally, you would say that case sizes below 40mm are more classical and reserved while case shapes above 40 mm are contemporary and flamboyant. However, there is another system. If one were to use the golden ratio as a mean to compare the size between the case size and the strap width then you would find that everything close to and under the golden ratio steers toward being more classical in design. You can try this - say your case size is 39mm and your strap width is 22mm, the ratio between the size of the case and the width of the band is 1.77. This means that your watch has more contemporary proportions. You can try this on a vintage watches and will be amused with the results. The dial layout is also done in a way so as to maintain perfect geometric composition - sub dials will emanate from the centers of midpoints within the construction. Everything in watch design is about rules in geometry and thus, classical designs are those that abide by such geometry. This is in essence what differentiates the design of Titan watches from Fastrack.

These drafts are used to progress to the next stage in the design process.