At this point there’s a documentary about nearly every topic these days, and now thanks to Netflix, design is continuing to become more mainstream. Sure, we have Gary Hustwit’s documentary trilogy of Helvetica, Objectified, and Urbanized. Outside of Helvetica though, they mostly played to those particular audiences.
Abstract: The Art of Design, will be a documentary series that focuses on a wide variety of creatives (think Chef’s Table but for design) which Netflix describes as showcasing “their creative process, explore their work, and discover how their innovative designs have profoundly affected our every day lives.” Featured in the series is Paula Scher, Christoph Niemann, Platon, Tinker Hatfield, Ralph Giles, Bjarke Ingels, Ilse Crawford, Es Devlin.
It’s a pretty phenomenal line-up, but I find it interesting that there are some folks like Bjarke Ingels who I’d classify as an architect, not a designer. Same with Christoph Niemann, phenomenally talented but I’d certainly put him more int he camp of illustrator. Either way, it’s great to see creatives in our line of work being highlighted in this way. Hopefully the show is a hit and we get several seasons to enjoy.
The series starts streaming February 10.