For those who don’t have a lot scheduled during this Christmas weekend or even between the holidays, here’s a list of design documentaries that can be a great and enjoyable way to spend your time.
Linotype: The Film
“Linotype: The Film” is a feature-length documentary centered around the Linotype type casting machine. Called the “Eighth Wonder of the World” by Thomas Edison, it revolutionized printing and society.
Watch on iTunes.
Design is One: Lella & Massimo Vignelli
Italian-born Lella and Massimo Vignelli are among the world’s most influential designers. The work covers such a broad spectrum that one could say the Vignellis are known by everybody, even those who don’t know their names.
Watch on Netflix or on iTunes.
Objectified
Objectified is a feature-length documentary about our complex relationship with manufactured objects and, by extension, the people who design them. It’s a look at the creativity at work behind everything from toothbrushes to tech gadgets.
Watch on Netflix or on iTunes.
Helvetica
Helvetica is a feature-length independent film about typography, graphic design and global visual culture. It looks at the proliferation of one typeface as part of a larger conversation about the way type affects our lives.
Watch on iTunes.
Milton Glaser: To Inform and Delight
Artfully directed by first-time filmmaker Wendy Keys, the film glances into everyday moments of Glaser s personal life and captures his immense warmth and humanity, as well as the boundless depth of his intelligence and creativity.
Design & Thinking
Design Thinking was applied as a term and methodology by a design firm in 2008. It was received as a tool to solve every problem, from daily life decisions to business challenges to world hunger problems. Attention and debates followed; some insisted on design education in all K-12 schools, some declared it is just marketing tool for that firm, some hoped it would turn his company into Apple. Some said it’s nothing new, just a new packaging of how creative people do things.
Watch on: http://designthinkingmovie.com/.
Indie Game: The Movie
Indie Game: The Movie is a feature documentary about video games, their creators and the craft. The film follows the dramatic journeys of indie game developers as they create their games, and as they release those works, and themselves, to the world.
Watch on iTunes.
Making It
“Making It” is a documentary film that explores the daily struggles of making a living, staying creative, and making it all up as we go along. The film focuses primarily on Eric Fortune, Andrew Bawidamann, and Brian Ewing discussing education, their business model, and the future of Illustration but ultimately asking, what does “Making It” mean to each artist?
Design Disruptors – A documentary from InVision
Today’s most disruptive companies have a new guiding principle: a fierce focus on customer-centric product design. Design Disruptors features an elite group of 15 disruptive companies—valued at one trillion dollars combined—who share the perspectives and sacrifices necessary to upend age-old industries and disrupt the status quo.
More info: Design Disruptors – Partner Screenings.
