Sunday, September 19, 2010

Objectified, the movie


In class on Thursday, we watched the movie, Objectified, directed by Gary Hustwit (Helvetica). Insights to the design process are always inspiring.  I enjoyed it almost as much as I had HelveticaHelvetica was more exciting for me because I have a great love for Type, with a capital T (see my next post, or not if you aren't a typography junkie).

The movie, Objectifed, was wonderful because every object does have a story. As one of my classmates, Sarah, said about the attributes of good design, is that "it isn't noticed until there is a problem."  Designers are always fixing those problems in creative ways.  They constantly ask "Why is it like this, and not like that?"

As I was watching the movie, it reminded me of Daniel H. Pink's presentation I saw a couple of years ago, and his book, A Whole New Mind: Why Right-Brainers Will Rule the Future.  While his presentation was simplistic, the idea that the world needs creative people/designers is obvious.

While the movie alluded to the thought that if there is no market for a well-designed item, it can be re-created to have artistic or emotional value. Pink's presentation was a more direct with his flyswatter example (to which I added one more).  He asked, if we can get a good working flyswatter for under a dollar, why would we pay $21.95 for an Alessi APS07 Dr. Skud Fly-Swatter by Philippe?


His point was that we live in an age of abundance and the market must supply our need/obsession to consume.

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