Reflection on the film OBJECTIFIED

"How does the design of our mobile phone, toothbrush or even the kitchen knife affect our lives? Did you to think about it? If you do, I would say that the movie Objectified will help you give a new perspective on these objects. Basically the film gave us a look inside the offices of the world's most influential product designers to see how these objects influence us that oftentimes without us even knowing it.  There are stories behind it and decisions were made, which is something that one would assume but rarely take the time to think about.

For me, a striking line by Henry Ford saying “Every object has a story”, encapsulates what the film is all about. For instance, a toothbrush handle has been carefully thought about and designed for the public. Consumer products are usually made in consideration of being user-friendly or non-obtrusive. It goes to show that most industrial designers are not the fine artists that they are often confused with. Their job is how to improve people’s daily life without people having to think about it deeply. However, based on the film, there are few companies that take design seriously at the moment but the film cited an American company that does it, which is Apple.

Mr. Jonathan Ive, Apple’s Senior VP for Industrial Design said that the best design is one that feels “undesigned” to the point where you do not know how it would be designed any other way because there is nothing left but the obvious. He added that, by removing the unnecessary elements in an object you get down to the core, which is what makes it great. Another personality that was featured was Mr. Karim Rashid a designer from New York, explains how cameras were first designed around the film. “Now we have digital cameras without film but cameras are still the same basic shape of cameras before them.” He said.

Moreover, the film shows how these designers are trying to design for the future. Designers know that we tend to want newer things that have a fresh and new look. But because designers continue to go through that process, what’s new at present by next year means nothing. Therefore, the goal for the designer is to make what looks like now look like then so they can repeat the process.

Overall, for me, this film encourages viewers to define and examine their purchasing habits and values more though rough. It is fascinating how much design goes into a chair and at the same time after billions of produced chairs that there are still uncomfortable chairs due to bad design.  I personally like the film because it reminds me to look at things around me with deeper appreciation, that these are not just useful, but were also designed or customized in accordance to my needs.