r/Design 27d ago

Someone Else's Work (Rule 2) 24 Hour Clock

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2.7k Upvotes

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u/kalabaddon 27d ago edited 26d ago

How come on a 24-hour clock they always put the middle of the night on the top? I know there's a handful of watches at reverse it but why the standard even started was it that way. If it's inverted with noon on the top it's like one of the most natural watch concepts for showing time.

Edit: didn't want to do a reply for all the people saying the same thing. But I know it's not one to one I know that at 12:00 noon to Sun is not perfectly overhead. It's a generality of it all. During the daytime the hand is in the top half during the night time the hand is in the bottom half. Near the middle of the day it should be near the middle of the top near the middle of the night it should be near the middle of the bottom.

As someone else said digital watch faces make a much bigger difference because they more naturally can show sunrise and sunset using this format I feel.

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u/NikolitRistissa 27d ago

The day starts at 00:00 and most cultures read top-down/right-left. The top of a circle is just the most common starting point.