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drwexLast night I went to see Objectified a documentary about design. If you ever want to understand why I do what I do, see this film. It's not a perfect film, but I found myself nodding in agreement throughout, thinking "yes, that's what I try to explain to people all the time." I don't know if non-designers would get the same things out of it that I did.
The film gave me a new, even more concise answer to the question "What is design?" The answer given in the film is "Design is the search for form". My previous winner for shortest answer was "Design is the transformation of existing conditions into desired conditions."
I spent a lot of time trying to explain basic financial investing strategy to someone in the lobby before the film. This was unexpected and kind of amusing - how much of what I've picked up in the last half decade can I summarize in near-layman language? Turns out enough that the 18-year-old behind the counter who was eavesdropping on us could follow along.
I met someone who remembered my name and then we spent a while playing "guess the context". Turns out she was a lurker on the Narrative Intelligence list long ago.
I got to tell the family name story to someone else. I think the guy in the lobby had me wound up and in talky mode; normally I'm really reticent at these gatherings-of-near-strangers and I hadn't gone with the intention of speaking to anyone.
Overall I thought it was a good film. Design is a huge topic, and hard to describe at best. The film mostly focuses on industrial (and thus product/commercial) design, with the clear message that everything you interact with that didn't come straight from the ground is designed. We mostly don't think about this, which may be a hallmark of good design. When I teach HCI I try to make my students think about this stuff; I will probably add this film to the redesign I have in my head for the next time I teach.
That said, I think the film assumes a bit too much on the part of the viewer. You might expect most people to know what MOMA is and how influential Apple has been, but how many non-geeks know who IDEO are, and why their views are important, or what role Braun played in, say, the phenomenal design influences of functionalism and modernism in the 1950s? I think a bit more context would have helped. Dieter Rams is a demigod in the design world but outside of it I doubt his name means much. That said, I loved how much screen time they gave him. He's great to listen to.
I was also frustrated that they never really went into Interaction Design. Moggridge tells the "falling into the laptop" story that I've heard before about how he was inspired to think up interaction design, but then the film doesn't even attempt to tell you what that is. So you can watch this film and get a sense maybe of why I do this, but not what I do.
The film also makes two sort of half-hearted stabs at specific topics - sustainability, and design as politics. I think it's a bit more successful with the latter, but really fails on the former. You're left with the idea that sustainability is a big problem, but not really what is/can be done about it and how designers are re-thinking problems in light of sustainability concerns.
The film gave me a new, even more concise answer to the question "What is design?" The answer given in the film is "Design is the search for form". My previous winner for shortest answer was "Design is the transformation of existing conditions into desired conditions."
I spent a lot of time trying to explain basic financial investing strategy to someone in the lobby before the film. This was unexpected and kind of amusing - how much of what I've picked up in the last half decade can I summarize in near-layman language? Turns out enough that the 18-year-old behind the counter who was eavesdropping on us could follow along.
I met someone who remembered my name and then we spent a while playing "guess the context". Turns out she was a lurker on the Narrative Intelligence list long ago.
I got to tell the family name story to someone else. I think the guy in the lobby had me wound up and in talky mode; normally I'm really reticent at these gatherings-of-near-strangers and I hadn't gone with the intention of speaking to anyone.
Overall I thought it was a good film. Design is a huge topic, and hard to describe at best. The film mostly focuses on industrial (and thus product/commercial) design, with the clear message that everything you interact with that didn't come straight from the ground is designed. We mostly don't think about this, which may be a hallmark of good design. When I teach HCI I try to make my students think about this stuff; I will probably add this film to the redesign I have in my head for the next time I teach.
That said, I think the film assumes a bit too much on the part of the viewer. You might expect most people to know what MOMA is and how influential Apple has been, but how many non-geeks know who IDEO are, and why their views are important, or what role Braun played in, say, the phenomenal design influences of functionalism and modernism in the 1950s? I think a bit more context would have helped. Dieter Rams is a demigod in the design world but outside of it I doubt his name means much. That said, I loved how much screen time they gave him. He's great to listen to.
I was also frustrated that they never really went into Interaction Design. Moggridge tells the "falling into the laptop" story that I've heard before about how he was inspired to think up interaction design, but then the film doesn't even attempt to tell you what that is. So you can watch this film and get a sense maybe of why I do this, but not what I do.
The film also makes two sort of half-hearted stabs at specific topics - sustainability, and design as politics. I think it's a bit more successful with the latter, but really fails on the former. You're left with the idea that sustainability is a big problem, but not really what is/can be done about it and how designers are re-thinking problems in light of sustainability concerns.
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no subject
Date: 2011-08-31 06:23 pm (UTC)No, I hadn't seen that
Date: 2011-08-31 07:07 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-08-31 09:04 pm (UTC)Ask me sometime in person
Date: 2011-08-31 09:11 pm (UTC)Re: Ask me sometime in person
Date: 2011-08-31 09:17 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-09-01 12:17 am (UTC)I have a copy of each on DVD if you ever want to watch it again.
it's the same people
Date: 2011-09-01 01:59 am (UTC)Re: it's the same people
Date: 2011-09-01 02:29 am (UTC)