5 Eye-Opening Documentaries for Designers

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5 Eye-Opening Documentaries for Designers

Design is everywhere. It’s invisible to most, of minor concern to many, and appreciated by few. But pity not the hard-working designers who create things invisible to most; because according to UIE luminary Jared Spool, “Good design, when done well, becomes invisible. It’s only when it’s done poorly that we notice it.” Indeed, there’s a reason so few individual designers ever break through to the greater cultural dialog. For every Saul Bass, Chip Kidd or David Carson, there are thousands of unknown visual problem-solvers out there, creating not only commercially appealing branding, but ways to enhance the user experience, maximizing efforts to get across important messaging, and—sometimes—simply to make the environment around us more pleasant to exist within. Here are five documentaries for both designers and the design-curious.

1. Abstract: The Art of Design (2017)

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Abstract: The Art of Design is a Netflix original docu-series that takes a sort of “Chef’s Table”-style approach to the everyday objects and structures in our lives—from the artist’s perspective. Featuring a few of the most innovative leaders in design, including New York-based illustrator Christoph Niemann, stage designer Es Devlin and architect Bjarke Ingels, this series is a must for anyone remotely interested in the world of art, design and architecture—or simply anyone with taste. With every episode, you’ll journey into the mind of an artist and discover the true art of design and the impact it plays on every aspect of life—and some you might have taken for granted. —Brent Taalur Ramsey


2. Helvetica (2007)

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For his documentary-directing debut, Gary Hustwit did not follow the local basketball team through its championship tournament. He did not dissect a pressing political issue. And he sure as hell didn’t eat Big Macs exclusively for a month. Instead, Hustwit created a documentary on a font: Helvetica, to be specific. Go ahead—pull it up in your word processor of choice. How compelling does it look to you? The fact that Hustwit and cinematographer Luke Geissbuhler turned this benign typeface into a rather well-received film says a lot about their sense of style and passion for the concepts of graphic design. —Jeremy Goldmeier


3. Art & Copy (2009)

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Art & Copy defends great advertising—or maybe one should say effective and influential advertising—by talking to the people who create it, telling the stories behind the creation of legendary campaigns for the Volkswagen Beetle, Tommy Hilfiger, Apple Macintosh, and good old fashioned cow’s milk. By talking to the most creative people in the industry, the film makes the case for advertising as personal expression and public art, but it’s art with a purpose, much like architecture. Of course, almost any profession can be practiced well enough that it becomes an art, but that doesn’t necessarily validate ubiquitous advertising; the film itself rarely deals with that problem and all but ignores the more common occurrence of artless advertising. Pausing the discussions to present mind-numbing statistics does not serve the film well, but when its listening to forceful personalities, the film is great fun to watch, and not without its own ideas. —Robert Davis


4. Milton Glaser: To Inform and Delight (2008)

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An ode to Milton Glaser, one of the most important designers of the 20th century, To Inform and Delight explores his most famous campaign, I Love New York (stylized I [heart] NY), along with glimpses into his personal life, creative process, and reflections from various designers and design critics. The documentary even features design anecdotes from Glaser, including how music influenced his life and work. Fantastic inspiration from one of the great design masters of the last century. —Muriel Vega


5. Objectified (2009)

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From the filmmakers behind Helvetica and Urbanized, comes Objectified, the second in the design exploration trilogy. Exploring the relationship between consumers and the product—as well as the thoughtful creatives behind them—Objectified works best when examining these dynamics on the societal macro. (It nearly ventures into reflexive parody with its borderline obsequious use of the Apple brand to illustrate the virtues of design.) However, like Helvetica, this film is overall a smartly realized and well-packaged investigation into the world of industrial design. It’s almost as if the lessons learned from its subject entered the film by osmosis. —Scott Wold

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