rss feedLearning from bows and arrows: Designing the future, searching for Helvetica and Muji
Several fascinating points caught my attention in this trailer by Gary Hustwit for his documentary, Objectified.
The film looks at design, how humans interact with the concept and uses nice, clean, simple shots of daily objects.
It’s definitely another film to put on my list to go watch. If you’ve seen the film, please let me know your thoughts.
From one designer:
Ultimately, my job…is to look into the future. You know, my job is about what’s going to happen, not what has happened.
From a second designer:
All these physical objects in our lives. There’s no real critique on them.
I also like this interview with Alice Rawsthorn, a design editor, because, well, I learned something about China, history and why an emperor cared so much about bows and arrows.
Her quote is from a longer preview of the documentary:
The goal of industrial design has always been mass production….One of the earliest examples would be the first emperor of China. He was waging war to try and colonize more and more parts of what would eventually become China. One of his problems was that each of his archers made their own arrows. So, say if an archer died, a fellow archer couldn’t grab the arrows from his quiver and start shooting at the enemy because the arrows literally didn’t fit his bow. So, the first emperor and his advisors came up with a way of standardizing the design of the arrows so that each arrow would fit any bow.
There’s also talk about Post-it Notes and their design.
His documentary raises another point to consider in the design-production-consumption chain: Where do you stand in it?
I understand that consumption – or buying what has been designed and made – helps economic cogs move. Right now, the movement of money and access to it remain crucial in the United States.
But if consumption for the sake of consumption becomes your primary goal, it seems like you’re on the passive end of the chain.
If you’re happy with that place, more power to you.
As for me, I like the quotes above from those two designers.
It’s clear that Hustwit is interested in design and detail. I noticed that he also points out the name of the song that you hear in the documentary.
It’s “I Like Van Halen Because My Sister Says They Are Cool” from El Ten Eleven.
Design, obviously, touches almost everything in our lives, whether it is by nature or humans.
My friend Martin, who digs bicycles and an artisan tofu restaurant in New York City, also likes Muji, a Japanese store filled with, well, cool stuff showcased in a clever site.
The store also runs a Web site just for the United States.
Finally, I didn’t realize that Hustwit also made another documentary, Helvetica.
He describes it as a film about visual culture and typography.
Hustwit also notes that Helvetica celebrated its 50th birthday in 2007.
As someone who once delivered newspapers and designed a few news pages as a student, I appreciate the importance of type font and point.
That includes Helvetica because it’s nice and clean.
I think it’s fascinating because he looked at something that we see daily but most certainly ignore in the rush that often fills our lives.
You can buy copies of Objectified and its stylish poster, as well as Helvetica.
Objectified is for sale on iTunes, too. Also, there are more clips of his work on YouTube.
My thanks, again, to the crew at UPPERCASE in Canada for posting information about Objectified.
If you’re looking for great, clean, modern design for inspiration, visit their site.
And by the way: I don’t think my home, for now, will ever be as nice as what I see at Muji and in Hustwit’s work.
I’m too much like a journalist. I have papers, books and envelopes on my desk.
Even when my wife and I clean up our house – and it’s nice, tidy and colorful - our son will take his puzzle and dump it on the ground.
We’ll start playing.
And that’s a good thing.
