NOOKA: The Info Aesthetics Of A Wrist Watch

12 Dec 2007 Category: Fashion, Features, Products, Worldwide

NOOKA: The Info Aesthetics Of A Wrist Watch

One quite geeky but nevertheless appealing design: A red model from NOOKA's "ZUB20 ZOT" series. These uber-stylish minimal watches almost completely do away with the traditional use of numbers - and it seems to work without having to do too much maths (Thank God.) They became pretty popular since they went on sale at the MoMA museum shop.

Now, take a look at these awesomely hip-styled NOOKA watches by New York-based Matthew Waldman! You might have spotted them at the last two DesignTide exhibitions in Tokyo, where everybody was gazing at the straight lines, circles, and absolute minimum of numbers that give wearers a sense of feeling the time. Today PingMag catches up with Matthew Waldman to ask him all about the artful information aesthetics of a wrist watch.

Written by Chiemi
Translated by Kevin Mcgue

As both designer and artist, how did you get started with watches?

I never really decided to become a watch designer. Around 1997, I started to get serious about web design and wasn’t even aware of the field of information architecture. But when trying to teach my clients about intuitive design, I had to reexamine my whole process. One of the results of this was the NOOKA brand.

Steely elegance! “Mirror,” from the “ZEN-H” series.

So the design of the NOOKA watches came intuitively?

Yes. Rather than coming up with a concept and designing it to be assembled in a logical way, I try to give shape to things intuitively. That’s the best way to design watches which have to express the abstract concept of time.


Greener pastures people will admire you for “Green” from the “ZUB20 ZEN-V” series…

…and a bright “Purple” in a handsome shape, from the “ZUB38 ZEN-V” rubber series.

What does ‘NOOKA’ mean exactly?

I took “New Yorker,” put it in a strong New York accent, and shortened it. Well, I can explain the ‘NOO’ as “new” or “fresh” depending on how I feel at the time. In Japanese, I can take the “-ka,” for ‘specialist,’ ‘master,’ that appears at the end of for example, a sakka, meaning ‘writer,’ noka, meaning ‘farmer,’ and gaka, meaning ‘painter.’ So, a ‘NOOKA’ would a person who thinks about or seeks out new things.

The NOOKA collection currently has eight models, but multiplied by the colours and materials there are a total of almost 80 different watches available! Explain how some displays work, please.

For example, “ZOT” is a model that we brought out in 2005: The hours are displayed as dots, and minutes as a bar. I tried to make a display that anyone could understand with just a glance - even if you don’t know Arabic numerals. Even a Martian could read the display.


“Orange” from NOOKA’s “ZUB20 ZOT” series: The twelve dots represent hours, the sliding bar represents minutes…

… and the numbers below are seconds. Got it? Here’s “Blue” from the same series, also available in white and green.

The NOOKA’s ZOT watches on a conveyor belt sushi counter! Seen at this year’s “Design Market” section of DesignTide. Clever!

Also at this year’s Design Tide, we displayed “KABEKA,” a wall clock that somewhat resembles a large thermometer, with markings for each 15-minute increment and larger markings for the hours. With this on your wall, you will truly get the true feeling of time passing over the course of one day…

The “KABEKA” at this year’s Design Tide. A techie ruler? No! In the course of twelve hours, the silver areas will all become black. Catchy info architecture!

… what do you mean by the feeling of time passing?

With an analogue clock, in the course of twelve hours, the minute hand will pass the same point several times. That seems like time would be repeating, even though it is not, of course. With our clocks and watches, I want to show that time really is passing.

I see… By the way, your profile says that you love animals. Does that influence your designs?

It hasn’t been an influence yet, but that could be an interesting idea. How about an evolutionary watch? (Laughs)


From the “Zoo” series: find out where it could reflect the designer’s love of animals…

… and the glamorous golden version, “GOLD ZOO-V.”

Nowadays, people more and more rely on their mobile phones to tell the time. So why should people wear a wrist watch?

It is to show your own style. In one way, fashion today is very hard to understand: You might see a jacket and without seeing the inside label you think it is a high-end brand - but it turns out to be an affordable one such as MUJI or H&M. That is why I try to show my style with my shoes and watches. Knowing the time is not the most important point.

Finally, do you have any Xmas message for folks around the world?

Don’t wait for Christmas - make every day special!


Matthew’s personal Xmas suggestion: the chic “ZEN-H Black” showing off its crocodile skin. Minimal luxury!

NOOKA designer Matthew Waldman

For sure, team PingMag will all be wearing these watches from now on - to never be late for an interview again! We’d be so stylish!

Matthew Waldman of NOOKA, thanks for showing us the time from a different aesthetic perspective.

90 Comments

  1. Ha, talk about freaky coincidence, I just got a Nooka white Zub38 Zot last weekend!

    I’ve been looking for a watch ever since I lost my reliable Seiko a month or so back and I’ve never gotten over my love for the Citizen Independent 1481010. I like the watches from Tokyo Flash but find them a bit too bulky looking and when I saw the Nooka site, I knew I had to get one.

    Everyone already teasing me what time it is since it’s taking a bit actually to register what time it is with the new way of displaying in dots and bars!

    Posted by: G on December 12th, 2007 at 8:06 pm

  2. really tasty!

    Posted by: hORST on December 13th, 2007 at 1:00 am

  3. I want an Eleeno Orbit watch. Cool design and cheap

    Posted by: Will Mac on December 13th, 2007 at 8:06 am

  4. Why, oh why do they all have the silly am/pm thing instead of a proper 24-hour display?

    Posted by: S on December 13th, 2007 at 2:30 pm

  5. what the hell is this? you need to have a course before buying this thing. maybe i would buy it if it at least looked cool, but it doesnt

    Posted by: yo on December 13th, 2007 at 7:09 pm

  6. this is old news,
    why everyone talk about it now…

    Posted by: bn on December 13th, 2007 at 8:15 pm

  7. it seems that some of the comments are written by people that don’t bother to actually read the article…funniest one being from yo who can hardly be considered an expert on “cool” by looking at his/her fabric designs.

    Posted by: TL on December 14th, 2007 at 4:52 am

  8. Cool!
    I’d like to try the Mirror ZEN-H or the ZUB38 ZEN-V.

    Posted by: Akai on December 15th, 2007 at 7:49 am

  9. Why, oh why do they all have the silly am/pm thing instead of a proper 24-hour display?

    Because!

    Posted by: Anonymous on December 16th, 2007 at 4:21 am

  10. The red model from NOOKA’s “ZUB20 ZOT” series is on T3 magazine I happen to flip thru. The designs are just too COOL to be true!

    Posted by: nico on December 17th, 2007 at 2:45 pm

  11. I just love watches, and I am a collector of a unique watch.
    This watch seems too huge for a tiny person like me :D,
    but overall, I like the design idea and the colours suits for such handwrist! Cheers for NOOKA! Congratulations!

    Posted by: Enrica on December 20th, 2007 at 3:26 pm

  12. [...] Vía Pinmag.jpg(Copy&Paste) [...]

    Posted by: Elisava Escuela Superior de Diseño - Postgrado en Diseño y Dirección de Arte » NOOKA: The Info Aesthetics Of A Wrist Watch on December 21st, 2007 at 5:01 pm

  13. chick!!

    Posted by: min on December 23rd, 2007 at 6:04 pm

  14. cool watches, though the size is too big for women. actually, its huge!! wish they made truly unisex smaller models, current ones clearly favor men

    Posted by: alisa omi on December 27th, 2007 at 10:08 pm

  15. I got a yellow one! And it’s awesome! Everywhere i go, people kept asking me where i got it from. LOL

    Posted by: Rach on January 13th, 2008 at 3:41 pm

  16. I know “hey, I’m a geek!” is all the uber-cool thing these days. But I have been around long enough and have been using tech crap far longer than most my age. All I got to say is that this shit is uber-dork dumb *ss So much “geek” these days is exactly that; my two cents worth at least. But to each his/her own.

    Posted by: Eric on February 10th, 2008 at 7:33 pm

  17. Uber-awesome. This would get you major geek-points with the men and the ladies. Not to mention quite a few “ZOMG! WHERE did you buy that from??! It’s so cool.” -envy- Approaches.

    Posted by: Anonymous on July 4th, 2008 at 5:20 pm

  18. Matthew rules! I just imagine his approach to design a central town watch ))

    Posted by: freelancer on July 23rd, 2008 at 12:49 am

  19. [...] of time with it’s watches.  I recently read a great interview from their lead designer here. Via PingMag. « Mc [...]

    Posted by: nooka watches at most of you are average on January 5th, 2009 at 4:27 am

  20. [...] Now, take a look at these awesomely hip-styled NOOKA watches by New York-based Matthew Waldman! You might have spotted them at the last two DesignTide exhibitions in Tokyo, where everybody was gazing at the straight lines, circles, and absolute minimum of numbers that give wearers a sense of feeling the time. Read the full story>>> [...]

    Posted by: Kevin Mcgue - Tokyo-Based Journalist & Filmmaker » NOOKA: The Info Aesthetics Of A Wrist Watch on March 3rd, 2009 at 11:40 pm

  21. J’en ai une (la orange), elle est est devenue noire sur les bords..
    Mauvaise qualité, mais sperbe design, il faut savoir choisir !

    Posted by: Estelle on April 11th, 2009 at 6:33 pm

  22. [...] Read the English version at PingMag» [...]

    Posted by: Kevin Mcgue | “NOOKA: The Info Aesthetics Of A Wrist Watch” Translation on April 19th, 2010 at 10:41 am

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