Designer of Time and Light
Ben Rousseau is an award-winning designer and lighting artist who specialises in the relationship between material, light, and form. Born in Australia but raised in Colchester, England’s oldest recorded town, Ben is driven to illuminate people’s lives through his art, products and interiors.
His inspiration comes from futuristic films like Blade Runner, the work of concept artist Syd Mead, Star Wars, and James Bond film sets created by Ken Adam. Ben combines cutting-edge material technologies with high-quality craftsmanship to create innovative lighting and interior designs.
With a diverse portfolio including installations at London’s V&A Museum, illuminated art suites at the Ice Hotel in Arctic Sweden, and entertainment spaces at Burning Man in Nevada, Ben’s recent focus has shifted to more accessible works for modern living spaces, particularly exploring our relationship with time.
This led to the creation of Tempus, an award-winning series of kinetic artworks that reinvent how we experience time. These pieces combine innovation with therapeutic light patterns to create artistic timepieces that eliminate traditional numbers or hands. Tempus is time – redesigned.
Creative Origins
Growing up in Colchester, Ben was fascinated by the Norman castle and Roman architecture that had endured for millennia. This sparked his ambition to create designs that would shape the future. His father’s 1955 Chevy Bel Air introduced him to the world of customisation and engineering detail, further fuelling his creative passion.
After art college, Ben intended to study model making and film special effects at University. However, he discovered that this industry was transitioning to computer design just as he was developing his love for hands-on craftsmanship. Feeling disillusioned, he found himself DJ-ing and organising events at his Student Union, where he discovered the transformational power of lighting. This became the foundation for his creative studio established in 2001.
Since then, Ben has explored the relationship between material, light, and form; creating high-end furniture, complete interiors, luxury homes, and even a tour bus for a world superbike champion. The core elements of his work – fascination with materials, manufacturing processes, the enchanting quality of light, and innovative presentation – have remained consistent throughout his career.
The Birth of Tempus
As Ben’s interior design projects grew larger, he was often asked to create statement pieces or artwork for walls. His obsession with precision-manufactured items led him to create illuminated art pieces representing patterns found in nature using laser cutting machines, CNC routers, 3D printers, and lathes.
About ten years ago, he created a piece called ‘Iris’, loosely representing an eyeball. After extensive testing, he discovered that the perfect balance between illuminated and non-illuminated material required 60 repeated pieces in a precise array. This realisation triggered the concept for what would become his timepiece collection.
In 2015, Ben created his first timepiece artwork using laser-cut acrylic and digitally controlled RGB LEDs with an Arduino controller. The experience of watching time pass through artistic light patterns was mesmerising. While living in California from 2017-2021, he would take his timepieces to client meetings, always receiving enthusiastic responses. However, production challenges and reliability issues with lighting components limited his ability to fulfill orders.
Upon returning to the UK in 2021, Ben made it his mission to create ‘the world’s most beautiful modern timepieces’, developing more robust electronics and refining his designs.
Craftsmanship and Production
Each Tempus clock features a custom-designed 500mm diameter PCB with a built-in Arduino processor, assembled in Italy. The board includes nearly 200 American-made RGB LED chips – the smallest and most powerful Ben could find. A potentiometer switch serves as the crown, allowing users to adjust the time and change between color modes and light patterns. Some designs incorporate a built-in microphone, enabling the clock to respond to music when not in timekeeping mode.
The chassis consists of laser-cut aluminum and acrylic supporting the main fascia, typically made of specially treated glass, sometimes featuring 23ct gold details applied by Ben himself. The standard frame is spun and grained aluminum with stove lacquer finishing. The standard size is 710mm in diameter, 45mm thick, and weighs 12kg, though a 500mm version is also available.
All components are manufactured within 100 miles of Ben’s workshop in Hove/Brighton. He knows, personally, everyone involved in the production process, ensuring they take pride in their contribution and appreciate the finished product. Currently, Ben handles all assembly himself, essentially creating one-offs, though he’s developing stable collections to build in small batches.
Function and Design
Each Tempus clock features 132 illuminating segments: 60 for seconds on the outer ring, 60 for minutes in the middle ring, and 12 for hours in the center. These segments create continuously changing light patterns representing time, contrasting lit and unlit areas.
The frosted black glass with brass frame design, which Ben calls ‘the Classic’, offers the best contrast for the light display. Though originally conceived as artistic concepts without traditional numbers or hands, Ben has received numerous requests for versions with numerals for enhanced functionality.
His timepieces have won several international design awards and are now being shown in prestigious locations like Chaplins furniture in London and United Watchmakers showroom in Geneva.
Future Directions
Ben continues to innovate, working on the next generation of timepieces that combine his signature light patterns with mechanical elements. He has created a 3D animated design for a massive timepiece concept – imagined as the size of Wembley Stadium – featuring opening and retracting parts and illuminated pistons moving in formation.
He has also developed a digital version of his Tempus light pattern for Android devices and has experimented with wristwatch designs. As a self-funded creator, Ben is currently focused on making his existing pieces more accessible before expanding into new formats.
Ben has recently exhibited his latest collection entitled ‘Arabian Nights’ at Riyadh’s Downtown Design Show with the Helen Chislett Gallery showing alongside some of the biggest names in UK design such as Thomas Heatherwick, Tom Faulkner, and Object Studio to name a few. He also exhibited a piece with 23ct gold at Silverstone Grand Prix.
