Move over Orville and Wilbur, there’s a new pair of Wright brothers. While their improvement on the alarm clock may not be as historically important as the fixed-wing aircraft, UK-based brothers Adrian and Jeremy do have one thing over the original Wrights: the Red Dot ‘Best of the Best Design’ award.

As most of us have experienced, the race to shut off an alarm clock is often overly complicated by unnecessary knobs, buttons and the infuriating phone touchscreen. The Flip Alarm Clock, a design the duo created for French brand Lexon, hopes to get rid of your wake-up woes.When set, the side labeled ‘On’ (easily recognizable by the huge letters) faces up. To turn off, the cute little box is simply lifted and turned topsy-turvy.

The classic seven-segment display reorients automatically so it is always readable. The clock also features a touch-sensitive snooze and lighted display. It would most likely suit those who make it out of bed the first try, as its simplicity could easily be taken advantage of by over-zealous sleepers.

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For maximum peace and relaxation, the bedroom should be a place free of electronics and distractions. Designer Susse Sonderby Jensen‘s analog Alarm Clock is a beautiful decorative timepiece that calls to mind the grace and strength of a ballet dancer. It doesn’t distract the eye with bright blinking lights; rather, it displays the time using shadows.

The elegantly simple hanging clock features a stationary ring and two moving pendulum-like objects. The objects hang down at different radii to indicate the hours and minutes. A little nub on the outer ring indicates where the 12 position is on the clock’s “face.”

Meant to hang from the ceiling, the clock casts a gentle shadow on the floor – presumably thanks to an embedded light source. The alarm portion of the clock isn’t the jarring beep of an electronic clock; rather, it is a simple LED embedded in the clock’s large ring. You may need a back-up alarm, though, since one little light probably wouldn’t be enough to wake anyone.

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Waking up in the morning is a drag no matter how you do it, but waking up to a pleasant sound is still better than waking up to a blaring alarm. Vera Weidermann figured that if she could create a pleasant waking experience, the rest of her day might follow suit. She created the lovely Dreamtime alarm clock to that end.

The Dreamtime clock is actually a balancing water scale. Just before going to bed, you fill up one of the containers with water. Ever so slowly throughout the night, the water trickles from that container to another. The water completes its journey just as it is time to wake up, and the hammer is allowed to fall. As it bounces from one bowl to another, marvelous music is created.

According to Weidermann, the sound is loud enough to wake her. But there is an added benefit to this clock as well: filling the water vessel and pouring it into the clock’s container every night is a useful bedtime ritual. The ritual tells the body and mind that it is ready to sleep. Unfortunately the Dreamtime does not come with a snooze button, but waking up to musical tones just has to be better than waking to your phone’s alarm every morning.

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Whether your home has thin walls or you just happen to live with/near very light sleepers, waking up to a squawking alarm clock every morning is a good way to annoy those around you. The Chirp alarm clock would wake you with a gentle shaking of your pillow rather than assaulting your ears – and those of everyone nearby – with a loud beep, buzz, or blast.

Currently in development by crowdsourcing inventors Quirky, the Chirp features a base with a handy little change tray and a standard clock. There is a small plastic clip that detaches from the base to clamp onto your pillow. When it’s time to wake up, the clip vibrates to rouse you from your dreams. Placing the clip back on the base shuts the alarm off.

The great thing about the Chirp is that if you fail to wake up from shaking alone, an audible alarm will start sounding off. Letting the beeping start up won’t win you any points with your light-sleeping significant other/roommate/neighbor, but at least you won’t have to explain to your boss that you overslept yet again.

The post Pillow-Shaking Alarm Wakes You + Lets Roommates Sleep first appeared on Gajitz.

If there was ever an alarm clock to leave at home whenever you travel, it’s this one. The Defusable Clock from Michael Krumpus looks like a bomb, complete with suspicious wires, countdown clock and circuit board.

When the timer is activated, you have ten seconds to cut the correct wire and stop the alarm from sounding. If you cut the wrong wire the clock will detonate immediately. But if you succeed, you have to rewire the clock before tomorrow morning, so it’s kind of a trade-off. According to Krumpus, the wires are attached by screws so it’s simple to replace them.

The wires switch around thanks to a randomizer, meaning that the location of the “correct” wire will change from one day to the next. Krumpus created “dynamite” and “plastic explosive” versions of the Defusable Clock just for fun. The creator of the Defusable Clock would like to point out that it is no more dangerous than any other alarm clock – although he still doesn’t recommend building one yourself and mailing it to a friend.

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