"Objectified"- Movie Reflection

   Objectified is a documentary directed by Gary Hustwit who is also known for making the documentary Helvetica. Hustwit taught us about the art of typography with Helvetica and here he teaches us about the art of industrial design. Objectified reminds us that every object we see has been carefully industrially designed whether it be a post-it note, a fork or a toothpick. There are stories behind it and many decisions were made, which we don’t always think about. “Every object has a story” a quote from Henry Ford which is the long story short of the documentary. It gives us an inside look at industrial designers from Apple, BMW, IDEO and more about why certain objects are designed a certain way. Something as simple as a toothbrush handle has been strategically thought about and designed for the masses. 

   Jonathan Ive is the famous Senior VP of Industrial Design at Apple and he recalls the first time that he saw an Apple product because he remembers that he got a sense of who the people were that designed it. Ive agrees that the best design is one that feels un-designed to the point where you do not know how it would be designed any other way because there is nothing left but the obvious. By removing the unnecessary elements in an object you get down to the core, this is what makes it absolute. 

   Karim Rashid, a designer from New York, shows how cameras were first designed around the film. Now we have digital cameras that don’t use film, but are still the same basic shape. He questions why we feel the need to keep re-designing the same design over and over again.  The documentary then shows how designers are trying to design for the future and how they’re thinking ahead. Designers know that people usually want a refreshing and renewed look to objects. However, because designers still go through that process, what’s new for fall could mean absolutely nothing by the time spring comes around. Giving designers the goal(s) to make something that looks like what will be “in” in the future, and then they repeat the process over and over again.

   In Objectified we see ordinary objects and the design behind them. It is fascinating how much design goes into a chair and at the same time after tons of chairs are produced, there are still uncomfortable chairs caused by poor design. I may be biased since I am a graphic designer but the documentary was completely intriguing, even though it was focused around industrial design.