Personal Profile
Where abouts are you from?
I’m 43 years old and I'm from Romania.
What is your technical background and education?
My technical background is in graphic design and web site development.
What inspires you to design watch faces?
My inspiration comes from all the things around me like cars, clothes, history, games, movies, and sometimes just playing with geometric shapes until I make a form that I like.
What are some of your hobbies?
When I was younger, I had electronics as a hobby and now my hobbies include computers, graphics, design and games.
Cristian Daniel Alexandru
Your Brand
When did you create your brand?
I started ACD Watch Faces in August 2017. On my birthday, I received a Samsung Gear S2 smart watch and wondered if I could make my own watch faces. I searched a bit on the net and found the Gear Watch Designer software. Using this, I found that it was quite easy to design and develop my own faces without too much programming knowledge. What initially started as a hobby has now become my main stream of revenue.
How many watch faces do you have in your collection right now?
Over 80 different models for Gear S2/S3/Sport and the Galaxy Watch. I started a line for Gear Fit also but I put it on hold for the moment to focus on round watch faces.
Do you have a particular theme you like to create your designs around? If so, what is it?
Do you have a particular theme you like to create your designs around? If so, what is it? I don't focus on just a particular theme. I have a Sci-Fi themed series, a history themed series, a metallic themed series and series around the big holidays like Halloween, Christmas and Valentines Day. I make digital as well as analog faces and I try to make them unique and original.
What are your top most popular and/or most download watch faces in your collection?
Top free downloaded watch face is by far ACD Metallic Time AOD with over 28,000 downloads think that shows that a simple and original idea can be very popular. For paid watch faces the most downloaded watch faces are the Valentines series closely followed by History series especially by ACD History Knights Templars.
What designs are you working on next and when can we expect to see them?
Now I am working on expanding the History collection and on some designs with more complications and gyro lighting effects. You can expect to see at least a couple new design every month.
Identify all the items you create for the Samsung Galaxy/Gear series: Watch Faces – Apps – Themes
For now I created only watch faces for Samsung Gear and Galaxy Watch but I'm looking to expand into themes in the future.
Watch Face Community
Please talk a little about the watch face community and what makes it interesting/special for you?
The watch face community helped me very much with creating fresh ideas and feedback. I get great satisfaction when a customer posts a picture of my watch face on his watch.
Why should designers consider developing watch faces?
Smart watches and watch face designs are evolving each year and I think in the future there will be a growing demand for smart watch apps and watch faces.
What are the common pitfalls you see when designers first start out and how should they avoid them?
Don't be superficial with your designs. A polished original design will have a better impact than 10 quick copy-paste designs.
If you could a new developer one piece of advice, what would it be?
Be patient! Don't expect too many downloads at the start. It’s more important to enjoy what you do because if you do that then you can create masterpieces that other people can enjoy.
Which developers create watch face designs you really like and that inspire you?
There are some designers like Broda and Jeweler that inspires me to do better and more complex designs.