EEC Industries Ltd. & Karacters Design Group: Perfect Time for BC Companies

Publish Date: January 2010

They had never designed a clock before, but when Karacters Design Group was asked to create a countdown clock for Omega, Official Timekeeper of the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, the Vancouver-based company didn't hesitate to accept the opportunity.

"It was a real honour to be able to do something like this," said Dan O'Leary, senior designer at Karacters who worked on the project with James Bateman, the company's associate creative director. "The clock has such a huge physical presence in the city. Essentially, we got to design something that would be the city's newest landmark."

O'Leary and Bateman spent about two weeks coming up with the design for the clock, incorporating elements that would connect it with the themes of the 2010 Winter Games as well as its locations in Whistler and Vancouver. O'Leary said Omega, who built the inner clockworks, was stunned by Karacters' design presentation last September. "The were completely blown away — they didn't realize how far you could take the concept of a countdown clock. They loved it right from the beginning."

As soon as they had a design, Karacters approached North Vancouver's EEC Industries Ltd. to build the clock. And although the company has been creating high-end signs for more than 35 years, building a clock was a first.

With a series of sketches from Karacters, EEC developed plans to turn the concept into a working clock — and there was no time to waste, said Rick May, EEC's Vice-President of Sales. By the time everyone had approved the project and design, there were only eight weeks left to do a job that would normally take six months.

"It was pretty stressful, no question, but we're all pretty proud. Everyone was just beaming. This is really something special for our company to have worked on. It will leave a mark on the city."

He said EEC and Karacters collaborated all the way through the project, adjusting the design when necessary and finding the best solutions to fabrication problems.

"It is the most expensive single sign we've ever made — it may not be the largest, but it's up there. It's really a beautiful sculpture. And it's something tangible that says the Games are coming to Vancouver."

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