{"id":6733,"date":"2023-01-20T19:55:50","date_gmt":"2023-01-20T19:55:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shinola.com\/our-stories\/?p=6733"},"modified":"2023-01-31T19:13:18","modified_gmt":"2023-01-31T19:13:18","slug":"time-keepers-meet-the-shinola-watch-design-team","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ourstories.shinola.com\/our-stories\/time-keepers-meet-the-shinola-watch-design-team\/","title":{"rendered":"Time Keepers: Meet the Shinola Watch Design Team"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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When you think of masterful watch design, what springs to mind? Maybe it\u2019s the meticulous and mysterious innerworkings hidden behind the case back. Or the distinctive styling of its silhouette, face, and strap. Or an exceptional standard of technical acumen and functionality. But for Brandon Little VP of Product Design and members of his team, it\u2019s all those things\u2014and so much more. Read on to learn what makes a Shinola timepiece, well, timeless.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The team\u2019s makeup is just as intricately designed as its handiwork, bringing together a tightknit group of experts in their own fields\u2014each with unique passions that led them here. Brandon hails from a background that melds graphic and decorative arts with industrial design. \u201cWhen you put [those subjects] all together, you get watches that live somewhere in the middle of technical and artistic craft. You\u2019ve got a heartbeat,\u201d he says, adding, \u201cThat, to me, was the \u2018unlock.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Senior Designer Molly Wang, who holds a\u00a0BFA in Art and Craft and\u00a0an\u00a0MFA in Industrial Design, infuses a fine art sensibility into her work. For her, it\u2019s \u201cthe combination of composition [and] colors\u201d and bringing them into flawless balance.<\/p>\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n

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Senior Designer and packaging design wizard Zach Fox taps his industrial design background to bring a watch\u2019s presentation to life. \u201cThere\u2019s so much story behind a watch. How can we use the packaging to convey it?\u201d Although it may seem like an afterthought to some, good presentation enhances and completes the experience of \u201cmeeting\u201d your watch for the first time. \u201cPackaging is the transition of not holding the watch to holding the watch, it warms you up to it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Design Director Greg Verras also credits industrial design for his fascination with \u201ccomplexities and movement, the history and the craft in it. I appreciate more design-led watches.\u201d He was first drawn to Shinola by \u201cthe idea of something non-disposable, and I\u2019m attracted to the U.S. flavor.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n

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Speaking of U.S. flavor, American style is a key ingredient in the Shinola recipe. Contrasting it with the cool, scientific perfection of European watch design, Greg says, \u201cIt\u2019s more approachable. You can see the factory in the work.\u201d Brandon agrees, \u201cIt\u2019s more robust and industrial. We\u2019re more warm [and] a little friendlier.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shinola designers take cues, not only from the city\u2019s rich history of American industrialization, but its architectural gems. \u201cThere\u2019s so much these buildings have in their lobbies and tilework.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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When asked about what else inspires them, the team lights up. Brandon cites an obvious\u2014and endless\u2014source of inspiration, time and again: Detroit. Shinola designers take cues, not only from the city\u2019s rich history of American industrialization, but its architectural gems. \u201cThere\u2019s so much these buildings have in their lobbies and tilework.\u201d Take the Book, for example, whose oval face echoes the <\/em><\/strong>iconic Book Tower\u2019s<\/em><\/a> magnificent skylight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Molly gravitates toward shapes found in nature and notes that the team as a whole often references bygone American brands, designs, and fashion. She also loves a good vintage fair. \u201cWe go to the Vintage Electronics Expo. You see a lot of old phones and crazy things.\u201d In fact, the colorful Detrola was named after an old portable radio discovered at the Expo. But it turns out the craziest inspo the team has conjured so far didn\u2019t come from an object but an animal. \u201cThe tardigrade,\u201d Molly laughs, referencing the tiny and adorable sea creature also known as a water bear<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But sometimes, the best inspiration arrives in human form. \u201cWe\u2019re drawn to certain people,\u201d Greg says, mentioning the Shinola Great American Series, which created a special edition Runwell in honor of Jim Thorpe with the next tribute rolling out soon. \u201cWe love an underdog story,\u201d he says, speaking for Shinola and most Detroiters alike.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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So what makes a truly outstanding watch design? For Greg, it\u2019s proportion and \u201chow everything relates to everything else. A great band has guitars and drums. But bad bands have those things as well. It\u2019s about harmony. At a certain point it becomes alive and special.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For Zach, it\u2019s navigating that narrow line between excellence and overkill. \u201c[Great design] is not trying to do 50 things, but the whole has detail to it and everything has been touched. It\u2019s not staying safe and making it bland either.\u201d Brandon concurs. \u201cYou can be so classic that it\u2019s boring, but you can take it to an extreme and it\u2019s obsolete in a few years.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Molly adds, \u201cWhen you look at it, it feels familiar but then when you examine the details you discover new ideas. It\u2019s still exciting.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before dashing off to his next meeting, Brandon sums it up his answer in a final thought: \u201cYou\u2019ve gotta be able to wear it. \u2018Worn out, worn well\u2019, we use that a lot. We want these things to be worn.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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[…]<\/p>\n

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