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Rocky Bergen

ARTIST & DESIGNER
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Arduwatch - Naturals Line - Orange and Green

Bergen - Arduwatch Design

March 5, 2022

I am a fan of tiny portable handhelds, and one if the coolest and smallest, is the Arduboy, a 1-bit miniature game system. It’s the size of a credit card and features this impossibly crisp display. I bought a Arduboy a long time ago and still enjoy playing around with it today. I have also been making mock Arduboy game graphics for a years and I guess I saw this project as a chance to combine a number of new skills and interests with some legacy designs and assets to see what would come of it.

The Arduwatch is an imagined “fantasy” product design that combines the screen and internals of an Arduboy with the form factor of a wristwatch. The Arduboy’s form factor and further reduced by eliminating all but the systems directional buttons. I imagined different games and applications that could work with this reduced control set.

As an aspiring watch designer, my hope is this design would resonate both with vintage tech and a watch enthusiasts alike.

Arduwatch - Brights Line - Slime and Pink

Arduwatch - Black (Brights), White (Naturals)

When the design was complete, I started to play around with different colourways. The Naturals Line features muted Autumn and Winter tones inspired by nature. The Brights Line is about 90’s toys and youthful energy. Each palette combo pairs beautifully with the super sharp high contrast Arduboy display.

Arduwatch - Green Detail - BC’s Quest for Tires.

This design was modelled using a combination of Fusion 360 and Cinema4D. These images were rendered using Adobe Substance Stager. I prefer Fusion’s geometry for building solid surfaces but I am more familiar with Cinema’s interface and toolkit for any finessing that may need to be done. Cinema also seemed to be the logical choice when it came to creating a flexible strap (one can only avoid the beginner’s modelling traps for so long). My computer is not really powerful enough to handle Substance’s requirements and “too much” model geometry causes some very glitchy behaviour. This is not the end of the world, I can still concentrate on building better, more viable models, though the output quality may need to be adjusted.

Arduwatch - Naturals Line

Orange Detail - Casio Homage LCD

Pink Detail - Tamawatchi

Arduwatch - Brights Line

I hope you enjoyed having a look at this Arduwatch design. I had a great time with this concept and I might even revisit it again another time. Do you have an Arduboy? Would you wear an Arduwatch? Do you recognize any of the games on the watches? What games would you add? Any colour combos? Let me know in the comments below!

In Arduboy, Design, Industrial Design, Mock-up, Prototype, render, Retro, watch, watch design, arduwatch Tags arduboy, arduino, arduwatch, 1bit, watch, watch design, watches, vintage, design, mock-up, render, industrial design, product design

The New Vintage Chronograph blends modern styling with plenty of vintage cues.

Bergen Watches - New Vintage Chronograph Design WIP

June 20, 2021

I am pleased to present my latest New Vintage Chronograph watch design. I am very happy how this design turned out. This is also the first example of a design that I have brought into the third dimension with Cinema4D. I am new to C4D and basically 3D in general, but the individual elements of watches are made up of basic enough shapes which allowed me to learn the software and produce these renders in 5 days of spare time. These 3D renders allow the viewer a better representation of the overall shape and feel of the design.

The Bergen NV Chrono features the following:
- 316L Stainless Steel case construction
- 40mm diameter case (42mm with crown)
- Seagull ST19 movement
- Double-domed Sapphire
- 20mm strap size
- 46mm lug-to-lug
- 11.5mm thickness (hopefully)

Great proportions and overall legibility.

Great proportions and overall legibility.

Side view - “B” mark on crown.

Display case showing off the ST19 movement.

Everything on this watch including all fonts and styling is completely scratch built. I find it a bit annoying when I see very expensive watches using off-the -shelf type-styles. The hope is that with each successive design I will begin to further hone in on my brand’s DNA.

Lume shot.

Close up of the dial.

Below you can see the design roadmap. Before I started learning C4D, this would have had to be considered a complete design. Now that I am beginning to gain my own 3D skills, I will be in a better position to show concepts more fully, both to the general audience and to myself. I look forward to have more time to play around with different materials and finishes and ultimate really “sell the design”. This first attempt has been an amazing growth experience for me personally.

If you like what you see, please consider leaving a like and a comment below. I am open to hearing any thoughts you may have.

In Design, Industrial Design, Mock-up, render, watch, Retro, Prototype Tags design, watch, watches, Rocky Bergen, industrial design, watch design

Bergen “New Vintage” chronograph design

Bergen - New Vintage Chronograph Design

February 14, 2021

I am starting to see some positive momentum on the watch design front. Each time I re-approach this octagonal case shape, I happier with the refinements. The latest design in this series is a unique take on a vintage bicompax-style chronograph. This design is meant to house a Seagull ST19 chronograph movement, a clone of the Venus 175.

Seagull ST19, Venus 175, Vintage Breitling faceplates

Through the development process, I compared a good cross-section of the current-day chronographs that use Seagull ST19 and vintage watches that made use of the Venus 175. Whether it was new Hong Kong Ed or a vintage Breitling Toptime, none of these chronographs was using a case shape this unique.

Bergen “New Vintage” Chronograph is designed to use Seagull’s ST19 movement.

The movement fits nicely inside the case design. I will concede that the irregular case shape may impact the functionality of the minute track as it stands but I will take some time away from this design, hoping I will revisit with fresher eyes.

Below are some of the latest iterations of the New Vintage Sports (formerly the Octo) watch design, more specifically the 100th iteration.

In watch, Industrial Design, Illustration, Mock-up, Prototype Tags watch, watches, retro, chronograph, industrial design, horology, seagull, st19, venus 175, breitling

Watch Design Progress

July 30, 2020

I have been trying to build my watch design skills for for several years now. My goal is to design easy to read, design-forward pieces that will stand out in a crowd for both their looks and build quality. I part of my design process I have begun to exploit my papercrafting skills to create true-to-scale paper representations. I am also beginning to swap out textures as you can see in the images below. These are not meant to be final colourways as much as to test the design against different colours and contrasts.

This is the 84th version of my pseudo-octagonal watch design. I would not be surprised if it continues to evolve for a while. It is currently sized at 38mm with 20mm bracelet or strap. What do you think of this watch? Would you wear something like this? Let me know in the comments below!

In Design, Industrial Design, Prototype, watch Tags watch, watches, design, industrial design, octo, timepiece, horology

Bergen Octo - Stainless Steel Watch - Front View - Latest Version

Bergen Octo - Stainless Steel Sports Watch Design

April 11, 2020

The Bergen Octo is an octagonal watch design I have been playing around with for the past few months now. Pictured above is the most recent version of the design to pass judgement at the “Bergen Watch Factory” which only really exists as an ongoing design exercise. Watches while simple to grasp as an object require a great deal of refinement to feel like an everyday accessory. This design has undergone roughly 60 iterations since I sketched the basic octagonal sketch over my lunch break back in January.

Bergen Octo - Watch face and bezel development

One of the challenges I face is working in Adobe Illustrator. If I had it to do over again, I most certainly would be learning Solidworks and earning a Product Engineering degree. Everytime I need to make an adjustment to a bezel edge, I am doing so manually. Rather than going completely from scratch, I am building the watchcase, face, bezel and other items to work with actual movements using accurate measurements. This limits some of the case shapes possible helps to grow my understanding of case design.

Bergen Octo - Case shape and styling -- Evolution

Paper mock-ups to help provide a sense of scale.

When I decided I was going to spend more time with watch design, I told myself I was going to start conservatively and respect the classics. So how did I land up with this decidedly retro and kitschy piece loud steel? I guess, I am not very good at following instructions, especially when they come from myself. I guess at the end of the day, I am happy to follow my bliss and hope to develop my watch design language along the way.

Bergen Octo - Bracelet and lug development

I got in touch with a few Chinese manufacturers to see about the logistics of building watches from these designs and they seemed to think it would be possible, so that is encouraging. I have considered having a buddy help me 3D print a basic case shape so that I could strap it to my wrist and get a better sense of presence.

Bergen Octo - Early Quartz iteration - Colorway considerations

While the top most image in this post represents the most refined example of these designs, there are things that I like about each of these designs. Ultimately, I am looking for the design that conveys the most harmony and is free from visual tension. Lots of pushing and pulling of assets in terms of scale and contrast.

Bergen Octo - Blueskying other potential derivative designs

For every good idea, there has to be a dozen weird ones. Glad I have enough time in the day to think of a few of those too. Below please behold the Tamawatchi.

Bergen Octo - Tomawatchi

I need to see this watch with “fresh eyes” which means I will be putting this project down for a few weeks and work on another retro paper craft project. So please stay tuned for that coming out near the end of this month if everything goes according to plan!

In watch, Industrial Design, Design, Mock-up, Prototype, Retro Tags watches, stainess, steel, nh35, seiko, watch, automatic, quartz

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A collection of illustrations, designs, other art, and the occasional meandering. If you are interested in working with me please have a look at my portfolio and feel free to drop me a line!

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