‘lunatik’ (red) all images courtesy of minimal

designer scott wilson, founder of the multidisciplinary chicago-based studio minimal, recently decided to present his latest idea of multi-touch watch kits for the iPod nano to the rest of the world via the online funding platform kickstarter.com. the idea of choosing kickstarter came when wilson started hearing about community-based platforms for funding creative ventures. instead of going the traditional route of securing a financial backer in advance, he put the kits online to gain support and raise funds in order to get the wristbands into production.

the project first went live on kickstarter in mid-november with the original pledge goal of 15K USD. since then it has far surpassed expectations, raising more than 780K+ USD to date, and now has more than 11,100 backers. with less than three days left, wilson’s watch kits will be funded on thursday, december 16th at 11:02PM EST. after the close of the kickstarter project, people should go to lunatik.com to purchase the product and get info going forward. the two wristband versions, ‘tiktok’ and ‘lunatik’ are perhaps the most thought out iteration of turning the tiny device into a multi-touch watch. the desire was to create a collection that was well designed, engineered and manufactured from premium materials, complemented by the quality of apple products.

exploded view of ‘lunatik’ assembly

‘lunatik’ is designed and intended to be a premium conversion kit. it is made from aerospace grade aluminium and CNC-machined into its final form. the straps are of a high grade silicone rubber, with solid stainless steel hardware.

‘lunatik’ (profile view)

view of the ‘lunatik’ worn as a watch

‘lunatik’ prototype

‘tiktok’

‘tiktok’ is a simple snap-in design which allows users to easily and securely snap the nano into the wrist clock. it cleanly integrates the nano into a sleek surfaced multi-functional timepiece.

‘tiktok’ + ‘lunatik’ (3 / 4 view)

‘tiktok’ + ‘lunatik’ (profile views)

‘the response we have gotten from people pledging to this project has been a truly empowering discovery. we are blown away by the support. there are other options out there but kickstarter is by far the easiest and most well-architected experience at the moment. this type of funding platform is a game-changer and just the beginning in shafting more power back to the individual creative entrepreneur.‘ – scott wilson / MINIMAL

concept sketches

concept sketches

TikTok+LunaTik MultiTouch Watch Kits for iPod Nano from Scott Wilson on Vimeo.