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Understanding Gary Hustwit’s “Objectified” in 5 minutes
Short summary of a documentary on the design of our everyday objects
Recently, I learned from my friend, Ishaan Kansal, that filmmaker Gary Hustwit was releasing his documentaries for free during the COVID-19 crisis. I was first exposed to Hustwit’s films as a college student when my visual design professor played “Helvetica” in class; it was a brilliant piece that explained the history of the typeface and showed its impact in our everyday lives — case in point: the NYC subway system I commute on daily. I also purchased Hustwit’s documentary, “Rams,” last year to paint a greater understanding of the influential legend in industrial design. It uncovered the pioneer’s methodology to building great products and showed how his ethos shaped the way entire generations think about making and consuming.
Thus, with Hustwit’s track record, you could imagine my excitement when I learned I could cure myself from another Wednesday night of boredom by checking out his film “Objectified.” Below, find the key points I took away from this beautifully curated film.
1. Objects are a reflection of the designer who created it.
Every object — intentional or not — speaks to who put it there. Its form, material, architecture, connection with you, to how you touch it, how you hold it, etc. is all a reflection of the creator. The assumptions you’re able to make in seconds — what it can do, how heavy it is, how much it may cost — were all decisions someone had to make in order for it be presented the way it is to you the way it is.
“Every object tells a story if you know how to read it.” — Henry Ford
2. Objects should pay attention to the extremes.
Dan Formosa, a researcher at Smart Design, mentions that in order to design a product that works for everyone, you should look at the extremes. By handling those far-end cases, the “middle” will take care of itself.
