Welcome back to Shop Talk, a podcast by Autodesk Fusion where we hang out with designers and makers live from their workshop. We’re excited to give our listeners candid conversations with talented folks who pour their hearts and soul into their craft. Right from Brooklyn, we have Che-Wei Wang of CW&T.

CW&T is an award-winning design firm based in Brooklyn, New York. Run by partners Che-Wei Wang and Taylor Levy, both have a keen eye for incorporating artistry in functionality. They’re dedicated to meticulously engineering products that last several lifetimes. You can see their designs in art exhibitions, such as Cooper Hewitt in New York City.

You have these whimsical ideas, and just try them. Normally, when someone does that, it stays as an art project that never becomes anything. But you’ve found ways to make those things into real products.

That’s what [CW&T] tries to do as much as possible. We want to introduce new and weird products into the world. When I was a student, I would see speculative design projects or weird industrial designs coming out of the classroom. They’re so cool— it should be a real product. But it’s so rare for those ideas to turn into something tangible. When we started designing and manufacturing products, it felt like we could to make it happen.

You have some interesting designs revolving around the idea of timekeeping.

Our product ‘Time Since Launch,’ took a while to finish. It started as a very speculative student project that we originally didn’t finish. But years later, we had more knowledge and a friend with engineering skills to help with the low-power stuff. It felt amazing to be able to turn our design into a real product.

As a studio, we want to do more of that. We want to make unique items that don’t exist or fit neatly into a product category. It’ll be its own weird little thing that some people will appreciate, while others will look at it and go, “What the hell is that? Why would I ever pay money for that thing?” And we’re okay with that response.

As a studio, we’ve had this interest in creating alternative ways of timekeeping since our days in school. It’s carried on through different projects. Some are art projects, and some are products. I have a strong interest in introducing different ways we can relate to time through timekeeping devices.

I think we all have a little bit of anxiety around timekeeping. People feel the pressure of time. Many folks might refuse to wear watches in order to fight that pressure. We want our devices to shake things up and remind others that you can have a different relationship with time. We can think about it differently. It doesn’t have to be based on the 24-hour cycle, or even hours and minutes.

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