Weisman Art Museum + 6
Case Study

ish Watch

Hyphen Brands
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Discipline
Product Design · Packaging · Identity
Recognition
Communication Arts · Weisman Art Museum, Minnesota
Distribution
Available in 7 Countries
The Brief
In 3,500 years of horology, no one had moved the numerals. We did. The ish Watch was born from one of India's most universal truths — that time here is always approximate — and became a product the world couldn't stop talking about.
Global Reach
Available in 7 countries. Featured at the Weisman Art Museum, Minnesota
Recognition
Featured on Communication Arts for eccentric design and sustainable, witty packaging
Cultural Impact
The only watch in India that uses social psychology to connect with every Indian
01
In 3,500 years of timekeeping, no one had dared to move the numerals. That was precisely the opportunity.
Since the invention of time dials, the placement of markings and numerals has remained unchanged — perpendicular, precise, absolute. But India has never had a particularly absolute relationship with time. 'Indian Standard Time' here is a polite fiction. What everyone actually runs on is 'Indian Stretchable Time' — and Hyphen Brands decided to make a watch that told the truth. For the first time, we changed the position of the numerals on a watch dial, tilting each one away from its classic position to suggest an approximate rather than exact time. Six is not six. Eight is not eight. It's six-ish. Eight-ish. And so the ish Watch was born.
ish Watch
02
India's tardiness isn't a flaw — it's a cultural institution. The ish Watch didn't mock it. It celebrated it.
In India, 'fashionably late' has long been replaced by 'predictably late'. Cow blockades, politician escorts, cratered roads — the excuses are endless and entirely valid. When you arrive half an hour after the appointed time, you don't explain yourself. You simply wait for the other person to arrive. We took this life insight and added dark humour to it. The tilted numerals on the dial aren't a quirk — they're a statement. The audience instantly connected, because the watch reminded them of every time they had been either the victim or the culprit of tardiness. And as an unpunctual attitude is almost part of the Indian ethos, they bought the idea — and the watch — without delay.
ish Watch dial detail
ish Watch packaging
"The ish Watch is a conversation piece. In India, everybody knows punctuality is low — so they can share a good laugh over the design. It projects the wearer as someone who recognises great design and wears it as a social statement."
— Hyphen Brands
03
The packaging was as unconventional as the watch itself — recycled paper, typographic wit, and quips on tardiness that hooked from first sight.
A watch this unique demanded packaging that broke every convention of the category. We replaced the standard hard-shell watch box with recycled paper packaging — lending it a designer, artisanal feel that set it apart instantly on the shelf. But the real stroke was what we did with the surface of that packaging. Every panel was covered in typographic quips about tardiness — understated humour that resonated immediately, hooking the customer from the first moment they picked it up. The outer packaging told the story of the concept before the watch was even seen. It wasn't just packaging — it was part of the product experience.
ish Watch packaging detail
ish Watch typography
ish Watch collection
04
From a designer store in India to the Weisman Art Museum in Minnesota — the ish Watch travelled the world on the strength of its idea.
Designed originally for a designer store, the ish Watch demanded to be unlike anything else in the category — and it was. The unusual dial and the witty, sustainable packaging caught the attention of the global design community almost immediately. The watch was called into the Weisman Art Museum in Minnesota and featured on Communication Arts — one of the most respected design publications in the world — for its eccentric design and sustainable packaging. Today it is available in 7 countries, carried not just as a timepiece but as a cultural artefact: a small, wearable piece of India's relationship with time.
ish Watch

In the 3,500 years since time dials were first invented, the placement of the markings and numerals on a watch face had never changed. That singular observation became the foundation of the ish Watch — a product that Hyphen Brands conceived, designed and brought to market as a witty, design-led response to one of India's most enduring cultural truths.

The insight was simple: India doesn't run on Indian Standard Time. It runs on Indian Stretchable Time. Cow blockades, politician escorts, cratered roads — the country's relationship with punctuality has always been approximate at best. When you arrive half an hour late, you don't explain yourself. You wait for the other person to arrive. We decided to make a watch that acknowledged this truth, celebrated it, and made it wearable.

The design intervention was precise and deliberate. For the first time, the numerals on a watch dial were moved from their classic perpendicular positions and tilted to approximate points on the face. Six was no longer six — it was six-ish. Eight was eight-ish. The suffix 'ish' was added to each time marker, and the dial became a gentle, humorous indictment of the punctuality problem every Indian recognises — whether as victim or culprit.

The packaging was designed to match the product's unconventional spirit. Recycled paper replaced the standard hard-shell box, giving it a designer, artisanal quality. The outer surface was covered in typographic quips about tardiness — understated, witty copy that hooked the customer from the moment they picked it up. The packaging didn't just contain the watch; it told its story.

The watch was created for a designer store and needed to be unlike anything else in the category — and it was. The ish Watch was subsequently called into the Weisman Art Museum in Minnesota and featured on Communication Arts for its eccentric design and sustainable packaging. It is now available in 7 countries, recognised globally as a design object that uses social psychology to connect with a universal human experience — the complicated, often comic relationship between people and time.

The ish Watch is more than a timepiece. It is a conversation starter, a social statement, and a small, perfectly designed piece of cultural commentary — worn on the wrist of everyone who has ever been, or been kept waiting by, someone running on ish time.

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