A New Way to Tell Time: Obrębalski Design Success Story

OviPublisherSuccesses | 13 October, 2011 17:57

 

In late 2008, Piotr Bitner began researching everything from flash documentation to code examples for an upcoming book project called “Flash for Teenagers.” After pouring over technical examples and specifics, Piotr discovered the Analog Clock example. Frustrated by the boring coding process, he was convinced he could create something different. That’s when Piotr decided to put his book on hold and develop his own method of displaying time, inventing something called “The Shape Clock”.

Over the course of the next six months, Piotr registered for copyrights to his invention, established his own company, Obrębalski Design, and began writing shape clocks for Sony-Ericcson in Java. Now, as the founder of the only shape clock publishing company in the world, his collection is experiencing rapid growth, with 39 shape clocks published in the Nokia store.

Reading Shape Clocks

At first glance, Piotr’s designs may appear complicated—digitizing and recreating a process that has been standardized for years. However, their unique and modern designs challenge the simplicity of traditional clocks, creating a more thought-provoking vehicle for conveying time.

Obrębalski Design Shape Clocks use either 12 or 24 elements for hours, 60 elements for minutes and 60 elements for seconds. All elements are always visible and create a pattern. That eliminates the need for digits or clock hands. With his original design receiving tremendous positive feedback, Piotr began refreshing his original designs in early 2011. Now, he is finishing clocks that include various features such as alarms, a stop-watch, multiple time zones and a timer application.  

                                                                                                                                                                                                            

“There was once a time when every phone had the same ringtone, and every clock looked the same,” said Piotr, CEO of Obrębalski Design. “My Shape Clocks are an interesting perspective on a traditional model, and appeal to those individuals who like to think outside the box.”  Piotr has found the Nokia Developer website and developer community to have the best support of any device manufacturer. According to Piotr, “without support, one can do nothing,” which is why he decided to house his applications at the Nokia Store. His original Shape Clock design is a Flash Lite application that can be applied as wallpaper to the series 40 and a screen saver on Nokia S60 3rd edition phones.

 

Results

With the dramatic reach and popularity of Nokia Store, Piotr’s download results are astonishing for his one-man company. Starting at 100 downloads within the first month and growing to 1,000 downloads in the second month, Obrębalski Design now remains stable at 40,000 downloads per month. Since launching on the Nokia Store, Piotr’s Shape Clocks have been downloaded by more than 1.5 million people across 175 countries – that’s a lot of shape clock enthusiasts who like to “think outside the box.”

“My company would not be where it is today without the Nokia Store’s global reach and the developer team’s support,” said Piotr. “Leveraging Nokia’s developer channels has enabled me to get feedback from my customers, test my apps with remote devices, and follow my passion to spread unique designs across the world.”

Nokia’s channel enables Piotr to see where the app is getting downloaded, and what customers are saying about their experience, enabling the developer to revise and create new versions. He plans to launch 3D Shape Clocks in the near future and will use the Nokia Store, and new platforms like the Windows Phone, to drive download and interest.  With Piotr’s success with Nokia is another example of a simple idea and a personal passion turning into a surprising international sensation with a loyal group of followers. Nokia enables Piotr to fuel his passion and engage a lively community, regardless of his comparative size as an app development shop.  

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