Objectified

Gary Hustwit’s film, Objectified has a way of illustrating the state of contemporary industrial design that both shows and tells. It included interviews with prominent designers like Karim Rashid (there were a couple of laughs and snickers in the theatre when he and his embellished pink outfit first appeared on the screen) and Dieter Rams juxtaposed with filmic representations of what was being discussed. For example, when Rams was addressing the current state of Apple as being the big design company of the day, and their unparalleled accessibility in interface with their customers, the movie showed consumers browsing through those sterile futuristic Apple stores, interacting with the computers in almost natural and intuitive ways. You could see the way the company had achieved such a successful interface by Hustwit showing it and Rams telling it.

The movie also showed how individual designers work, for instance the dynamic relationship and subsequent design processes of Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec was a topic of dialogue. This often helped shed light on designers’ products and how the final products are accomplished.