Design on Film

SINCE MID MARCH, design fans have been getting their fix not from virtual museum tours or digital festivals but by watching the films of independent filmmaker and photographer, Gary Hustwit, who is streaming his movies for free during this Covid-19 outbreak. His key films include Helvetica, a documentary about graphic design and typography, Objectified which is about industrial and product design; and Urbanized, which discusses the design of cities. Head to hustwit.com to see what he will release next.

THE HUMAN SCALE Watch on: Amazon Prime Video By 2050, 80 per cent of the world's population will be living in cities. But are cities the ideal places for humans to live? The Human Scale proposes that cities should be designed for its inhabitants, rather than to suit traffic flow, among other issues.

"I find the film quite timeless. It is still relevant today, even though it was released in 2012. It shows how the way that spaces are designed and planned can affect how people live." - Felix Ng, creative director of Anonymous design firm.

YELLOW IS FORBIDDEN Watch on: Amazon Prime Video Yellow is Forbidden follows the story of Beijing-born Guo Pei, China's premier couture designer, from what made her interested in fashion to taking on the Parisian fashion world.

"The gowns shown in the film are stunning. It is also refreshing to see an Asian designer at work, rather than the usual Caucasian ones. Guo Pei is like the small town girl who made it big." - Tan Sok Tuan, principal of Poiesis Architects.

MON ONCLE BY JACQUES TATI Watch on: Dailymotion.com Monsieur Hulot visits his sister's ultramodern home, which is super stylish but impractical. The comedy brings up the perennial debate of whether design is about aesthetics or functionality.

"The movie shows that sometimes people are so caught up with "design" as a style that they miss out on what life is really about. The film is a reactionary to an emerging French consumer in the 1950s but I still think it is very relevant now. " - Nathan Yong, founder of Nathan Yong Design.

HER Watch on: Amazon Prime Video Written, directed, and produced by Spike Jonze, Her tells the story of a man who develops a relationship with an artificially intelligent virtual assistant. The movie stars Joaquin Phoenix and Scarlett Johansson.

"It is chock full of designs of a very probable future and how we live. Also the interface of the operation system interface in the movie is designed by my favourite graphic designer Geoff McFetridge." - Hunn Wai, co-founder of Lanzavecchia + Wai industrial design firm.

ABSTRACT: THE ART OF DESIGN Watch on: Netflix What makes you like a particular product but not another? Or why is this product more often used than another? Often, it boils down to good design. This Netflix original documentary brings viewers into the minds of designers from different fields.

"This is like a crash course on design, with many different top designers and artists like Bjarke Ingels, Paula Scher, Olafur Eliasson talking about their process and inspiration." - Chris Lee, founder of Asylum design firm.

DIOR & I Watch on: Amazon Prime Video Dior & I follows Raf Simons' creation of his first haute couture collection for Dior when he was its creative director in 2012. There are lots of pressure cooker moments and beautiful dresses to see.

"In the film, Simons combs through the archives of Dior and picks up pieces to build his collection. I usually start with a concept and slowly build up an image of the project. The film inspired me to take a different approach to design." - William Ng, co-founder of Studio Wills + Architects.