Want to gain a whole new appreciation for the things in our everyday lives? Go see the movie “Objectified” from producer/director Gary Hustwit. It's an incredible film that follows designers through the process of design from the way they brainstorm and research to how they implement change to suit need in the most ordinary everyday objects and thus make them “extraordinary”.
An example used is the taking of an ordinary potato peeler which is not comfortable or easy to grip and giving it a more ergonomic handle so that people can peel bags of potatoes without getting sore or constantly dropping the utensil. It may seem small and insignificant but people eat a lot of potatoes. Plus it's just one of thousands of items we touch and interact with on a weekly basis. If we continue to improve all the objects we use what would be the overall effect on our lives?
Objectified makes the point that literally everything in our lives, all the objects, tools and contraptions we interact with on a daily basis to work, to live, to get from one place to the other have been designed by someone. We are constantly surrounded with someone's design work.
The designers interviewed in the film introduce us to a staggering concept. Until recently a huge portion of all that has been designed ends up in landfills with not much thought given to lifespan or recyclability. Now that we have the all new potato peeler what happens to the old ones? Chance are the majority of them go straight into the garbage can and eventually to the county landfill.
We are at an important crossroads in our history. There has been increasing awareness to the concept of responsibility and as Objectified puts it, “stewardship” of the earth. For today's designers this means designing from now on with consideration of the entire lifespan of the object or “Cradle to Cradle”. How big is the carbon footprint of the object while being made? How long will it be useful? When it breaks, is worn out or is simply out of fashion, where will it go? The landfills are limited. New designers are making tomorrow's generations of “stuff” of increasingly more recyclable material and with a smaller carbon footprint. An example is in the world of technology – computers, cell phones, mp3 players. There has been movement away from plastics such as the once touted “material of tomorrow” poly vinyl chloride (pvc) and toward lightweight aluminum which can be melted down and reused. This approach is being applied an all levels and with the attitude that it is late in the game and there is no other way.
Go see Objectified – you'll never look at your potato peeler the same way again.
Above: out with the Old and in with the New
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