I made a few notable word clock designs recently. Though I would share the highlights.
This is a shorter version of the vertical word clock. I made it primarily to fit in the display cases (book cases) that I use in 2 local galleries. The original design used 2 leds per word, skipping a 3rd LED between words. A strip of 60 LEDs to cover 20 words. This skipping, in concert with the gaps in the acrylic and an internal grate helped contain the illumination to the targeted words.
The new version does not skip the 3rd LED. So it is just down to the grate and the gaps in the acrylic. Ends up, that works almost as well but is 2/3 the height and thus fits in the bookcase.
The other new word clock is a new variant on my larger square word clock. The new twist here is that the collaborating artist (RISK) printed his iconic RISK-OLEUM spray can on relatively thin stock which allows the light to shine through without cutting out the upper layer. There is a masking layer underneath that forms the letters. The keen eye will note that while the back and front and masking are large enough to need the passthrough, I have split the other internal layers into parts that fit a standard sheet size to not need to rely on the passthrough working perfectly.
The time (full brightness on those letters )
Startup light show (not full brightness as 1024 LEDS would draw massive current
The underlying grid that separates each letter
The masking layer: thick poster board.
The OG version with cutout letters.
