Nathan Trafford is the founder and designer behind Trafford Watch Co., an Austin-based microbrand built on the idea that we all have moments in our lives that are worth celebrating. He spent over a decade in the design agency world, rising from art director to creative director at shops like T3 and Masonry before deciding he wanted to make something that he could hold. His path into horology started sideways, designing digital watch faces on Facer under the name Trafford Labs; his following of 40,000 enthusiasts became an unfiltered focus group long before he milled a single case. With a design language that starts with 1950s Americana and is modernized through color and typography, every Trafford watch feels both grounded and bold. Nathan designs by hand, sells direct, and builds around a single idea printed on everything he makes: take your time.
01 Origin. What problem, frustration, or quiet conviction made your company/product(s) necessary? Take us back to the moment the idea wouldn't leave you alone.
I come from the advertising world, so storytelling is generally one of the main focuses for me. That being said, there was a moment about one year into the business when a lightbulb went off in my head and I realized that it’s actually stronger for myself, the brand, and (most importantly) the customer if I don't force my own stories into the watches’ designs. Instead, I wanted to focus on the individual stories of the wearers.
People buy watches for very personal reasons, often to celebrate important moments in their lives. We approach the design of our watches with the hope that they will spark these specific memories every time an owner looks at their watch. So, Trafford didn't necessarily come from a problem or a hole in the industry—it was more just latching on to the positive aspect of why folks buy watches and celebrating it.
02 The constraint that shaped it. Every well-made object is defined as much by what it isn't as what it is. What was the hardest constraint you worked within, and how did it sharpen the final product?
I’m a big believer in giving yourself as many guardrails as possible in design, and it’s something that I’ve preached to junior designers throughout my career. Imagine that you have two kids with two different sandboxes. One kid has a huge pile of sand with no borders and every kind of tool you can think of. The other has a much smaller square with defined borders and just a couple of small tools. The chances are that the kid with the big pile of sand will just make a big mess, while the one with the small sandbox will make something more defined and interesting.
This is true in all forms of design. The more rules you can give yourself the more useful and well-defined the final product will be. With watches, we are already so restricted by the mechanics living inside, but we also have another layer of general design constraints: it must be legible; it must be comfortable; and it must look different from most watches. We then apply more specific guidelines such as complications we want, specific visual themes (e.g. famous guitars, sky colors, flower textures, etc), or material requirements. The more guidelines the better!
03 A design decision you defended. Walk us through one choice that was questioned, debated, or pushed back on, and why you held the line.
The biggest design decision (easily) I had to fight early on was the square shape. People said that the square was too recognizable as a Cartier, Tag Heuer, or even an Apple Watch. They said that while the square shape was unique, the data said that round watches were bigger sellers and that I was going to lose sales because of the square shape. The Crossroads has since become our biggest seller by far and gained notoriety throughout the watch industry.
04 What you removed. Form and Function lives in what's left after the cuts. What did you take out, leave on the cutting room floor, or refuse to add?
One of the hardest parts of the process is cutting down the final colors. For any new launch, there are always dozens of color options that we love, but we can't produce them all. But I like to say that the ones that we cut aren't dead—they're just put on the shelf for later!
One other interesting 'cut' that we've recently done has been to remove the text part of our logo from the dial of our new Crossroads S watches. The icon now lives alone on the dial with our name on the back of the watch. This is obviously a little scary to do as a brand, but I like it for two reasons: 1) we are basically claiming that rounded square case shape as our own, saying that it's synonymous with the Trafford brand, and 2) it plays right back into our ethos of the watch being about the wearer, not about us.
05 What's next, and what stays the same? Where is the brand going from here, and what will never change about how you make things?
Gosh, there's so much coming that I'm excited about. The biggest brand-level thing that we're starting this year is the introduction of Core colors. These are colors and models that are non-limited and permanently available. We will still be doing special limited editions throughout the year, but it will be nice to have some things that are always available.
06 Who's next? Name one or two founders, makers, or studios you think is making products that beautifully marry form and function right now. Someone we should be paying attention to, and why.
I love this question, and there are so many that I could list here, so I'll try to keep it short. I’m a sucker for great desk organization, and I think Ugmonk does some really thoughtful work. I’m also a big fan of Makers Cabinet for their heirloom-quality tools. For general home-goods and cool stuff, I have always loved Best Made Co., not just for the products they make and source, but also for the way the founder talks about design and the objects we value.
Lightning Round
An object you'd never replace
I am a pencil snob and only use my Blackwing pencils.
A book, film, or album that shaped how you think about design
Honestly, I learned more about design from studying black and white photography than anything else. Everything is just light and shadows! Specifically, Richard Avedon is one of my favorites.
A daily ritual
Most watch enthusiasts will say the same thing, and that's choosing and winding a watch every morning. It's a great opportunity to take a moment and think about something I'm grateful for.
The last thing you bought that surprised you
I purchased a Fujifilm X100V camera as a small daily-life camera. I can't put it down. The character in the glass is just lovely.
A piece of advice you'd give to someone making their first product
Don't fall in love with your first design. Take your design and go draw it 100 more times and tell me that the first one is still the best. If it is, then great, but it’s more likely that you learned something along the way that makes it better. Sure, magic sometimes sparks in the middle of the night, but most of the time the magic happens during the iteration process.
Coffee order
I'm that weirdo that really dislikes coffee. If I need caffeine, I'll grab a Clean Energy Yerba Mate.
About FORM & FUNCTION
Form & Function is a print magazine about the objects worth keeping. We write about the tools, gear, and everyday things that earn their place through good design and honest craft — the stuff that works as well as it looks. Each issue is made slowly and on purpose: matte pages, considered writing, no filler. This newsletter is where that same thinking shows up between issues — founder interviews, early looks, and the occasional thing we can't stop thinking about.
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FORM & FUNCTION — Issue 001.
The quarterly print magazine about things worth keeping. Matte, printed, made to be held. Ships July ‘26.