"Objectified"

Monday's lecture featured the viewing of the documentary "Objectified" by film producer Gary Hustwit. This film detailed the complex relationship between consumers and their products. It also gave a hands-on look at these products and the genius minds behind them.


I loved the interview with Mac's designer, Jonathan Ive. He talked about how design needs to be focused on simplicity. Take all the unnecessary buttons/lights/whirly-gigs out of a product and leave the bare minimum. Doing this will leave you with a sleek, solid design that's consumer friendly and aesthetically pleasing.


I also really liked the segment about the toothbrushes. The company developed a design for a kid's toothbrush and not even a week after it was manufactured, it's designer found it littered on a beach. This segment really brought forth the increasingly prevalent issue of sustainability. The world that this 2015 class will be designing in will be much different than today. As designers, we will have to consistently focus on the future, creating products that are friendly to the environment.


Oddly enough, the object that I chose for my first project was a toothbrush. After drawing it 100-plus times, it's really got me thinking how I could change it to make it more cohesive with the environment. Would making it out of a material other than plastic be beneficial? The bristles? Those people at Colgate better watch out, this toothbrush is about to get one heck of a makeover.