Interview_with_Alain_Frie.pdf
What role did clocks play in your life growing up? What was your relationship like with the clock and time in general?
My parents set up the company over 40 years ago, just before I was born, so I was raised amongst clocks. Initially, they made the first clocks at home and later when my father constructed the factory building it was an ideal place to play and to help during the school holidays. We usually visited suppliers in Germany in the Black Forest before going on holidays, where I would sit at the table listening to conversation on how to make and create clocks. So clocks are something I have known my whole life.
Clocks and time are two things that are of course related but clocks are much more than just timekeepers. Clocks are things we buy as decoration in our home and give an image of who you are and what you want to be. I think the functionality in combination with design and technique is something, which will be an inspiration to me for the rest of my live.
Was it always your plan, or your family’s plan, for you to take over your father’s clock business? How did you go about changing the direction and style of your father’s clock business into your own?
No it was not always my intention, I originally trained as a chef. I like the good things in life, so cooking is something I now do as a hobby. After my studies in the hotel business and working in this field for a few years I was still drawn to the clock business. At that time the company was already international. As a young man I wanted to travel the world and the family business gave the opportunity to do this. 
When I came into the business in the early nineties the whole clock business was going through a period of transition. In the past, the later part of the clocks or the clock parts were produced in Germany in the Black Forest. These were mostly traditional clocks, which were mainly mechanical clocks for classic interiors. These clocks were sold through clock specialists and jewelry stores around the world. At the end of the 80’s and beginning of 90’s, the production was starting to be based on quartz movements, which lowered the clock prices. Also, it meant the clocks where no longer a product which needed a specialist to sell it.
The more competitive pricing and greater flexibility of the quartz movement gave the opportunity to work on new designs and different channels to sell the products. From this moment on design became the driving force in the clock business. Going to more modern design also gave to the opportunity to sell the clocks in gift, design and furniture stores. This is where the majority of the clocks are now being sold.
NeXtime moved with the market and started to work with many designers and is now the leading brand in design clocks.
Did you initially have a vision of the kind of products you wanted to design, create, market and sell? Where did this vision come from? What were your influences and inspirations?
As I was born into the clock business, designing and creating new clocks is something I have done all my life. However it is always a challenge to come up with new concepts, which are innovative and are still commercial, easy to read and good timekeepers. I am always following the latest trends in furniture design, colors and materials. These trends together with my experience in clock business and the inspiration that I get in the factories brings me enough inspiration to create a new collection of 30 to 40 new models every year.
Is it restricting or inspiring to constantly be working with making a traditional and functional object (the clock,) modern, new, and interesting?
I don’t know how or why but every year there are new ideas and it is an amazing experience what you can do with clocks. Of course there are also many young designers, who help me to create the NeXtime collection.
What was the inspiration behind your '’Dropped’’ wall clock design? How important are materials to your design concept? (For example, in the ‘’Dropped’’ clock, the partially clear glass that shows wall color.)
For me, being a man with a production background, materials are the driving force behind my designs. Glass is a beautiful material with a good weight. The sparkle, transparency, mirror numbers and the weight give the clock the quality look-and-feel it needs. The dropped numbers is one of my first designs. It is something, which started as a joke but is now one of our bestselling clocks.
What is usually the key moment for you during the process of designing a clock, from the first sketch to the end product being manufactured? At which point do you feel most confident about its success?
Every facet is of the process is important. Every year we create about 250 sketches and drawings for new clock concepts. The sketch has to draw my attention. Then it is important to find the right source who is interested in making the samples and is willing to put their time and resources in making a good sample.
The sample has to be selected by my sales team and the buyers, and then it has to be produced, packed etc. If one of these facets in the process is not good the product will not be a success. So after this whole process is finished I can say whether it will be success. Producing a hit item is like a winning lottery ticket there are so many things that can go wrong. However when the product is good and selling well in the stores it a satisfaction for me and the whole team who helped to create the product.
Does being surrounded by other clock designers spark your own ideas? Are your designs inspired by theirs or does your influence come from elsewhere?
Most ideas are inspired by me or the input from the market. However being 100% original is almost impossible, one always gets inspirations from visiting all the tradeshows and meeting designers around the world. However, NeXtime prides it self on creating a 100% original design collection which shows products which are designed and produced exclusively for NeXtime.
Is it challenging to play the role of both business owner and clock designer? Which to do identify more with? And is it difficult to judge the marketability of you own designs after creating them?
It is always hard to run a business and to be creative on the same time; wearing two hats. It is simply a case of changing your hat and to empty your mind and work on one thing at a time. The hard thing is that for designing ideas you have to fly and the flying is not something that comes to you when you want.
Every design is like a child so you nurture it until it is ready to fly out and you are never 100% sure whether it is going to succeed or not.
Where do you see the future of your designs going? What can we anticipate from you?
I hope to become more creative in other fields in the future however for now you can mainly expect clocks, clocks, clocks and more beautiful clocks.
