Renderings

50 Hourglass Renderings

My fascination with time existed from a young age, to understand how time flies, or even the fact that time does not exist in certain dimensions. The design of the hourglass has evolved from 1500 till today and the use of the hourglass has drastically changed as well, it’s become one of the many tools to measure time. Our digital phones, laptops, watches, etc all help us tell time and the hourglass is just another one of those tools. Today hourglasses can be used to tell time, help you practice the Pomodoro method, or as decoration.

This week, I choose to create 50 different visualizations and renderings of the hourglass, this task was to challenge my own mental models and think outside the box on how these visual representations can change throughout each iteration. I tried looking at the hourglass from different angles, taking photos of it half full, half empty, or fully empty on one side. I also tried to sketch, illustrate the hourglass, and play with all kinds of light and filters. I used an app called SCRL to create multiple macro images of the hourglass (which I’ve used to create social media content before). I used Procreate to draw within the hourglass and outside and around it. Below are the 50 renderings I created for the hourglass. Enjoy!

Different angles of the hourglass

Background Variations

Then realized I can create different variations by editing the photos in different ways, I choose an antique filter, a colorful one, and a multiple version filter which is pretty popular on social media today.

Variations of Edited Photos

Collage Style Renderings

Macro Renderings

Light Play

Illustrations

Growth in Time

Manipulated Time

Pencil Sketch Renderings

Flash Photography

Simple, Dark and Fun Times

If I had to do this project again, I would try to think about a list of ways I can create different visualizations and mediums I can use prior to beginning. I definitely struggled towards the end of the project to figure out the last 20 iterations and felt like I was started to repeat myself or some of the concepts. I think preparation is key to having enough categories and representation covering all aspects of the item. What I did well was the variety of renderings I was able to create, some being minimal to some pushing the idea out of the box.

Can’t wait to see how you visually represent one item in 50 different variations :)