Review – Objectified

 
Gary Hustwit’s 2nd film Objectified shows an ambiguous but interesting film based around the industry of Industrial Design. Objectified is the second film of a trilogy of design films made by Hustwit following on from the critical success of Helvetica.

In short this film is not as well structured as Helvetica as it really just patches interviews from the great industrial designers into what seems to be no apparent order. This movie doesn’t tell a logical story or state a unified message like its predecessor but rather gives a brief insight to what industrial design is, how we design products, and what the future holds.

For design academics and experienced industrial designers this movie is of little educational value as it really states well known knowledge. However it will be an extremely entertaining experience as it is one of the only truly well made movies on the field and features some inside shots of design think houses like IDEO and Smart Design. For students, non-designers, or designers from other disciplines this movie is a great starting point to what industrial designers do and the relationship between products and people.

Objectified romanticises what industrial designers are supposed to be doing, or more likely – what we wish we were doing. It portrays industrial design in the offices of IDEO where small teams amuse themselves in brainstorming sessions ping-ponging abstract ideas around like young children. When in reality this ‘fun’ portrayal of the industrial design process takes up a very small part of product development. The film covers some key creative strategies used by designers like sketching, creative brainstorming, mind mapping, product testing, usability scenarios and rapid prototyping.

Objectified covers some interesting approaches to design and interaction but it never quite pins down definitively the role industrial design has in society. It is refreshing to see Australian born Marc Newson give a real down to earth account of what industrial design is including colouful language like ‘”s**t”. But he is often drowned out and highly contrasted by elitist who believe industrial design has the potential to have political policy implications and actually change the world. These characterised designers appear to be completely naive to the systems industrial design is immersed by like manufacturing limitations, and the limitations products actually have in society. Karim Rashid, a designer interviewed in the movie really seems to hit this point on the head by providing some realistic scope on the field.

The greatest success of Objectified is a timely one with the Copenhagen climate change talks, which is the relationship between industrial design and mass production and the consequences on the environment. This appears to be a real underlying message throughout the film and really questions why design can’t be timeless and why can’t products value from age. It questions planned obsolescence of consumer product lines especially mobile phones and other gadgetry.

For most industrial designers, sketch-pens would have dropped when celebrity product designer Jonathan Ive (Senior Vice President of Industrial Design at Apple) hit the screen. In fact, the passion and rawness of Ive’s speech makes the audience demand that the documentary be an inside look at product design at Apple, it’s evolution and it’s design processes. Most product designers have such a close bond and respect for Apple. A company that highly values good design and the fact that industrial designers use their products as vital design tools. This Jonathan Ive documentary would have been more appealing for seasoned designers. Without a doubt though Objectified is a great film and certainly worth the watch. This movie could easily have been extended further into a series with a more in-depth look into certain design facets. However this isn’t what the movie is trying to achieve. This movie will give you an unbiased look at the people behind the design of everyday products and the motivations and processes that drive them. For more information check out the Objectified website: http://www.objectifiedfilm.com/