DrivenxDesign Awards - Gold

This award celebrates the creative and innovative design of Timebirds Timers.

Consideration given to aspects that relate to human usage, aesthetics, selection of components and materials, and the resolution of assembly, manufacturing and the overall function.

Project Overview

We took the classic look of your wall-mounted gym timer and re-built it as a personal display device to maximise the efforts of every committed athlete.

Project Brief

While there are many timing solutions on the market, none can be personally displayed where they're clearly seen and heard, whilst also giving you the confidence that it will survive the rigours of the workout environment.
• Wall-mounted timers are great for large groups but not for individuals or Personal Training and being fixed means you can't always see them.
• Your phone has any number of great apps, but it’s an expensive and fragile device. It's also liable to go to sleep or run out of battery and its reflective screen can make it impossible to see mid-workout.
• Wearables provide a neat solution for running, but when you need both hands in your workout you've got a problem.

Project Innovation/Need

Timebirds has been designed to be small enough to fit in your pocket but large enough to see during a workout. Its long-life battery and fast charging mean your workout is not limited by power point access - you can take it wherever you go.

• The sleek design has been considered from the inside out, to maximize durability, and it’s all encased in a high quality, non-slip rubber skin that will not come off or crack over time, even in sweaty gym bags.
• Each digit is illuminated by large, seven-segment LEDs and an anti-glare lens to maximum visibility. LCD's don't work in the sun!
• Powerful magnets have been fitted into the housing so Timebirds can be securely attached to any metallic (steel) surfaces, making it comfortably visible during your workout.
• The menu has been redesigned with intuitive mode indicators that use initials rather than random numbers for each setting.
• Each button is optimally sized and placed for easy finger reach
• It has all the necessary workout Modes available right on the device without the need to use a separate remote control or phone app.
• Count Up Timer
• Count Up Timer with rounds
• Count Down Timer
• Custom Timers for Interval Training, Tabata & Fight Gone Bad.
• Clock display

Design Challenge

The challenge was to get the retro look of the large Gym timer into a small portable package with a long battery life and simple interface for the user.

LED’s needed to be large and clearly visible to the person working out. This did not leave a lot of room for other components and it still had to be robust.

Sustainability

The product has been designed to be robust, so it has a long life. The case is a Thermo Plastic Rubber which makes protects the electronics from dropping. The front lens is Poly carbonate, so it won’t break, and the display is solid state LED’s, not glass LCD.

The unit is designed to be easily disassembled with readily available tools for eventual replacement of the battery if required.
Packaging is minimal, using plain corrugated cardboard boxing. No glossy box, in a box, wrapped in plastic here, just honest packaging for the task of transport protection, it will see tougher workouts in real life!

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