Objectified

8/29/2011

Objectified was essentially a documentary about how designers and their creations affect the world around them and how consumers react to these objects. It expressed the ‘cycle’ of design; as time progresses, things naturally become re-examined and re-designed. It really opened up my eyes to the fact that design actually is very crucial to anybody’s everyday life.  Like the movie said, “nearly everything has been designed in one way or another”, even the simplest of objects that tend to be overlooked as designed. I also like how it focused heavily on the process of design and not just on the final outcome. It made me realize how significant it is to try things from every angle and direction to ensure that the final design is the most efficient it can be. It also made me fully understand the reasoning behind the process notebook that we create for class and why we have to do so many drawings for one project! It is good to know that mistakes do not necessarily mean failure, it is just all part of the process of creating something better. In addition, I liked when the movie stated that the “definition of who you are as a designer comes from the way you look at the world.” It is intriguing to think that each designer is different based on what they think is necessary to improve the world and what their ideas on improving the world really mean. If each designer’s goal was to improve the world for the common good of everyone, this could be one drastically improved world! Something else that stuck out to me was the fact that good design sometimes seems inevitable. It is crazy to think that sometimes the best designs do not get recognition because the objects work so well that nobody even questions it. The last thing that really grabbed my attention was the idea of minimalism usually being the best design. One of the guys said that “if a feature is not indicating something, it shouldn’t be there.” This concept makes sense to me; less is more in the long run and also follows Don Norman’s 10 principles of good design. Overall, I thought that this movie had lots to contribute to my design knowledge.