the Designer Pages blog

Last night, I had the extreme pleasure of partaking in the late-night showing at the SVA Theater of director Gary Huswit’s new film Objectified, a thorough and enlightening documentary about the changing role of product design in modern life. Hustwit, the director the widely acclaimed film Helvetica which examines the history of graphic designs, was present to introduce the film and for the post-show Q&A with “techno-organic” designer extraordinaire Karim Rashid and Objectified photographer Luke Geissbuller.

Among those design world heavyweights interviewed about their design processes and opinions regarding the modern discipline and market were Marc Newson, the Bourrellec Brothers, Hella Jongerius, IHT columnist Alice Rawsthorn, Chris Bangle of BMW, Karim Rashid, founders of IDEO and Smart Design, Naota Fukasawa, Dieter Rams and Paola Antonelli of MoMA, to name just a small handful. Commenting on anything and everything from low-cost designs at IKEA, the marketing of design at Target, the tradition of craft, the diminishing shelf-life of technological gadgets, Eastern vs. Western approaches towards design, limited-edition chairs and even robots, Objectified presents an insightful, authentic and accurate portrait of our relationships to the furniture and tools we use and the spaces we inhabit. This film is an ABSOLUTE must-see whether you are a design dilettante or devotee.

The film opens in New York at the IFC starting May 8th.