Objectified

The film "Objectified" by Gary Hustwit is a documentary on the importance of design that surrounds everyone in their daily lives. Many of objects that we use everyday are designed in such a way to benefit us and make our lives much more convenient. Hustwit's film not only shows the beneficial factors of design but also its rising problems because of design. Things are being produced at a rapid pace with new creations nearly every month and old products that are still capable of doing its job are being tossed for the improved versions of it. This creates a new problem that designers must now consider. Designers are now faced with a new challenge in not only improving the product itself but to also be able to improve the product in a way that makes it environmentally friendly. The easiest solution is to use every last bit of resource into making the product and using biodegradable materials. Apple is a good example of this solution. Every little piece is used into making a product and most of them are made from aluminum, which are highly recyclable.

The transitions throughout the documentary are very interesting as they are incredibly fluid and smooth from one subject to another. The usage of different languages parallels the idea that design is a universal consistency between many countries by the many people that are interviewed in the film. It also shows the different fads from different kinds of culture. This idea draws attention to the fact that design is both the global solution and problem to the society. The way the film started and ends also gives a sense of warning in how much this world has affected and changed by design. In the beginning, consumerism was emphasized (such as the showing of machines mass producing plastic chairs) but as the film continues on, it focuses more on the idea of the relationship with the object. Finally in the end of the film, a huge contrast is made in the idea of enjoying the objects that are already there instead of trying to accumulate new things. This is a message in trying to get people to be more sustainable despite the excitement of the ever changing new designs.