Friday, October 16, 2009

Design Captured: Objectified


Objectified a film by Gary Hustwit, can't help but be compared to Hustwit's first documentary about communications in the world around us, his 2007 documentary Helvetica. He takes 75 minutes to explore the world of design and designers, particularly those who design for industrially produced objects. There are nearly 20 designers and design experts representing a wide variety of approaches and types of products.

Objectified and Helvetica are documentaries that are designed to inform and expand the perceptions of talented subculture of individuals who change our everyday world through the means of their craft and creativity. They are kind of long form Ted Talks in a way connected by theme. Hustwit's script interconnects big time designers and a spectrum of the things we have in our lives.

Questions one might have about designers and design before watching Objectified are definitely addressed during the course of the film: "What is design? What do designers do? How do they think? Solve problems? But the discussions also consider how and when objects make us feel good, why humans need things, and there is the discussion of whether or not designers just making things that are heading for landfill.

I love hearing these men and women talk about their passions. Jonathan Ive, the Apple designer who, in his own way, has kind of changed the world a few times in the past couple of decades shows how materials for parts of a modern IMac interconnect with little wasted. Dieter Rams of Braun is absolutely charming. Interactive designer Bill Moggeridge tells how working on the first laptop computer seduced him into being more concerned with writing and designing software. There are many others who I look forward to seeing again when I show this film to my class next week.

Hustwit knows that the kind of person who finds this subject fascinating isn't going to be satisfied with just an hour and a quarter devoted to the subject. He also includes nearly another hour of high quality outtakes from the interviews.
posted by well-executed buffet at 7:49 PM
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