Objectified Film Review

In this new film by Gary Hustwit, he focuses on defining product design and determining what is good design. According to the documentary, the goal of industrial design is mass production and standardizing objects, though one of the featured designers adds that these objects must also have character. Furthermore, several of the definitions posed by the designers revolved around these common objectives:
1) Design should be based on what people need
2) Each part of the design should serve a purpose
3) Design should be focused on the future and how a current object could be improved/how to create a completely new object
4) Good design is "innovative, aesthetic, understandable, unobtrusive, long-lived, consistent in detail, and environmentally friendly"
The film also discussed the process from translating a sketch into a tangible object by mentioning computer-aided design (CAD) or software that is a two-dimensional representation of what the object will look like. From there, they use rapid prototyping to make a rough version of the object, and to see if the sketch agrees with the physical object. From there, it goes onto manufacturing. Jonathan Ive of Apple also explains his process in creating the iPhone and MacBook by talking about the materials used. One of his main concerns when designing a product is how to incorporate the jobs of 6 parts into 1 part, or in other words, developing a sense of hierarchy as to what is needed and what isn't.
A museum curator featured in the film believes that there are 3 phases of design:
1) form
2) symbolism
3) contextual, technological
Form deals with how the design materializes, while symbolism describes the meaning of the object, and contextual/technological explores the connection between the object and the environment in which it's used.
Meanwhile, Marc Newson also shares his philosophy on design by describing how he uses dissatisfaction with current products to motivate him to design a new one. He introduces an interesting paradox, in which good products will stand the the test of time, though good products are also focused on innovation and evolution.
Karim Rashid gives an example of this contradiction by questioning why we do not alter the shape of digital cameras, since the original rectangular shape was a result of the length of the film inside. However, now that digital cameras no longer use film, Newson believes that there is no excuse for its retaining its current shape, though that doesn't mean changing the function of the camera.
I noticed that a huge theme in the documentary was the relationship between objects and people. One designer spoke about car design, and how cars have a certain personality because consumers interpret the cars as having emotional value. In a sense, cars serve as avatars of the driver, since his choice in choosing that particular car is a reflection of his personality. Another designer also talked about how an object should be intended for the extremes of its demographic. For example, a potato peeler should be created with the arthritic or strongest in mind, because those in the middle will be able to handle the object with no problems.
The film also mentioned that industrial design shares a relationship with the environment, since mass production carries serious implications for sustainability. Karim Rashid questions why objects have to be built with permanent materials, i.e. cell phones can be made from cardboard, or a more environmentally friendly material. The film ends with a message that that is one of the major problems that product designers have to deal with, and that future designs will have to incorporate this is a constraint.
Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this film, and I saw how it shared many common threads with what we learn in design class, such as how to balance unity and variety, and emphasis and economy. I am already keeping an eye out for what Gary Hustwit releases next.

Working in groups

Sometimes, others aren't the most appreciative of your design ideas. the perils of working in the design world.
http://theoatmeal.com/comics/design_hell
But what do y'all think of the final project? So far, we've been working on our own, so does working in a group change things for you? What do you like about collaborative design processes? What are you less than happy with?

Poster Project

For this project we needed to create a poster on a given topic using a specific design style. My topic was travel, and my design style was Art Deco. Art Deco was most prominent in the 1920s and 1930s and this style often involves geometric shapes and lines, contrasting, vibrant colors, strong light source and simplified objects. I picked the city of London as my travel destination because I feel that this is the city that I have a lot of knowledge of. I love this place and I have had so many memories about this wonderful city so I feel that I could make an interesting, unconventional travel poster for this city.

After 50 initial sketches, I selected 10 that I felt most strong about. These sketches included themes such as London underground music scenes (punk, mod), umbrellas, London's iconic figures (John Lennon, Twiggy etc) and finally I did a poster of a royal guard riding on a Vespa scooter which is a mod symbol. I wanted to play with the idea of high and low culture in London because it is famous for both. Therefore I juxtapose the high royal culture with the street subculture. I felt that I gave an interesting twist to the otherwise cliche images and the idea suggests that anyone could be free and have fun in this city. Style-wise, I used very vibrant, contrasting colors such as blue, red and orange which are often found in Art Deco designs. I also added a light source coming out from a Mod symbol at the background. I also simplified the figure and the scooter to make it feel more Art Deco.

Objectified Film Review

The film Objectified by Gary Hustwit had its very original opening sequence, like Helvetica did. It began with leading viewers on the journey of the making of a chair. The narrator explains how there are so many assumptions made by people in seconds upon viewing an object, such as what it does, how well it does it, and how much it costs, for example. Furthermore, the object is clearly not just an object, and whether "intentional or not, speaks to who put it there", regarding the person that created it and decided the object's form, material, architecture, and how it connects to you. The movie then begins to follow the etching of the title "Objectified".

The documentary discussed how industrialization's main goal is mass production, or providing standardized objects for millions and millions of people. The best examples of industrial design are the ones that are the most inconspicuous (the Post-it).

Furthermore, there is a story embedded in every object. The Japanese toothpick with a top that has indentions can be broken off to show that it has been used, but it can also serve as a stand for you to place your toothpick on. This obviously reflects Japanese culture and the values and lifestyle that come with that culture. Henry Ford has even confirmed this by saying that "every object tells a story if you know how to read it".

Consultants are people that work with companies to design something. An important concept that was discussed was that if they know who the extremes are in an audience, such as a woman with arthritis, or an injured athlete, the middle group of people will take care of itself. Designers say that their main job is to try and figure out how to improve people's daily lives without them really knowing that they are thinking about it. Many designers are also bothered by the thoughtlessness of some products - "there are too many useless things out there".

Instead, good design can be said to be innovative, useful, aesthetically pleasing, able to make a product understandable, honest, unobtrusive, long-lived, consistent in every detail, environmentally friendly, and as little design as possible.

In this new generation, the form of a product bears no relation to its function anymore. Before, it was much easier to guess the function of an object by looking at its form. Because of new developments like the microchip, for example, this is no longer the case.

The documentary also addressed the issue of sustainability in design. This is a big problem because sustainability is about redesigning every aspect and it is difficult to find ways to dispose of things responsibly, even if many designers believe in it emotionally and/or mentally.

Finally, objects that have the most value are the ones that mean the most in your life. These objects reflect the true story of who you are and what "your personal narrative is" because you are the only audience that matters.

I thought the documentary was quite interesting and dealt with a unique subject matter. It also had many opinions from different designers all over the world and I felt that this made the documentary very credible and varied. It was somewhat lengthy but it did explore many issues in design in great detail, which I thought was impressive.

Poster Project

For my poster project, I created a poster advertising The Great Reno Balloon Race that takes place in Reno, Nevada. I was assigned the general topic of Sports and the style of Art Deco. I was inspired to make the poster long and narrow to emphasize the element of height in a balloon race, and I also added mountains in the scene to make the balloon appear as flying high up into the air. After critiques and feedback from others, I realized that this simple cropping decision for my poster was actually one of its major strengths. I went through many typefaces and felt that since the poster was supposed to evoke simplicity and beauty, it would be best to choose the Broadway font. I thought it really represented the Art Deco style well. The major issue with this poster that I could have fixed easily would be, perhaps, the balloon's coloring. I spent a great deal of time trying to make the mountains look realistic and underestimated the balloon's importance. If I emphasized its highlights and shadows more, the balloon would not look as out of place as it does. Overall, I was reasonably satisfied with this poster because I spent a lot of time debating its different elements and its composition until I made well-thought out choices about the poster.