For the past two weeks I have been working on making an realistic watch in Illustrator and it is safe to say that I have come a long way since the first week of this class. This project was not only time consuming, but it took a lot of patience to do all the details right and to get everything matching but I am happy with my final result. I learned so much from this project and It’s been nice learning how to use more tools in Illustrator and seeing how they all work together.
Sketches
At the beginning of this project I was really wanting to do a clock because I wanted to do something different than the usual watch at most everyone choses to do. I looked up some fun modern clock ideas and started sketching out the ideas that I could do. I had fun with my sketches but mixing different styles of clocks, hands, numbers and even textures and even though I ended up switching to a watch, sketching these ideas out really helped me with my watch design.
I ended up deciding to do a watch because I knew that it would be more challenging and I wanted to push myself with this project. I also felt that I would be able to learn more in Illustrator and design wise if I did a watch because it had more details and different aspects that a clock just wouldn’t have. After I decided to do a watch I started looking for some modern and sleek looking watches and I came across this Arvo watch that I really liked I’ve had my eye one this brand for a while so I thought it would be fun to make a watch just like it.
Draft
I had a lot of fun with the draft. It was really cool seeing how it all started to come together. I started with making the shapes of each object and then adding more detail as I went along. I really enjoyed making the watch face and adding the triangles for the numbers. Because I had originally planned on doing a clock, I had to do more sketches as I was working on my draft and final. I really found it useful to use sketch different objects out as I was trying to design them because that allowed me to take the time to step away from my watch and figure out the correct shadings, texture and shapes of the objects that I was working on. My sketches weren’t the best but I found a new way to help me in my projects which is something that I am excited about!
Here is my draft. (Don’t mind the weird coloring on the bands, it went weird when I exported it)
Final
Here is my final. I am really happy with how it turned out and I would honestly buy and wear the watch. I worked really hard on getting the right gradients as well as the right coloring and shapes, especially on the rim. I had the most trouble with getting the shadows right around the face and rim but I think they turned out okay. I like how the reflection on the glass turned out and the texture on the band.
ashley olsen 