Flowers and time: Type O’Clock X Contrast Foundry

What does keeping track of time look like to you? If we asked you to close your eyes and picture it, what would you see? Is it your digital alarm clock, written in glowing futuristic type? Or do you see your kitchen clock face with the strict arrows pointing at the elegant numbers? A ray of sunlight crawling down your house walls, switching colors from golden to red as the sun goes down?

Here at CoFo, we got mesmerized by the concept of time once we met the label Type O’Clock. Founded by the designers Jimu Kobayashi and Lukas Schulz, it offers an awareness of time contained within its contemporary ceramic clocks. In their secret workshop in Düsseldorf, Germany, Jimu and Lukas trap time with the intricate mechanisms and numbers on the earthy texture of ceramic by hand. All clocks are fired for several days at temperatures over 1832°F, manufactured, and then equipped with a quartz movement made in Germany, giving time a new look.

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The other key element of time magic is contained within the clock’s digits. Remember how we asked what time looks like to you? To CoFo, it looks like flowers. Flowers seemed like the missing link between time and stone, reminding us of the restorative power of nature that stands above all hardships. This concept united us with Type O’Clock for a truly unique collaboration.

We played with the counter-spaces and the counter-forms of the numbers. While the contour of the numbers is embossed, the counter-shapes, since they are on the surface, become the main and most important element of the design. The idea behind the design of the clock is that the numbers are “alive”. We interpreted the clock as an element, such as soil, sand, or stone—something stiff and motionless. Therefore, our numbers grow and flourish when stamped into the ceramic surface, just as they would if they were planted in natural soil or stone. And similarly to real plants, our flowers grow all over the surface.