Think Like An Object

image courtesy of  http://www.objectifiedfilm.com/

The documentary film started with plastic chair factory and followed by a narration about appreciation and assumptions of the word “object”. Then, came all the speakers who tell us things about it.

 A short title analysis 

Objectified; from the root word “object” – meaning a thing, a concept or a being. It is a simple thing with a simple concept and a unique being. In English, it is identified as an object in grammar. That is oftentimes described as a part of predicate that denotes something about the subject. Thus, it is not mainly a subject. Furthermore, it is part but not the central part and a great definition of a support to a sentence (just a support and not the heart of the sentence). In the connection to the film, objectified it is a form that can be experienced by others. Objects are simple things that made a difference and impact. Therefore, it is not just an expression that we are being objectified.

D.E.S.I.G.N.

DESIGN, a recurring word in the film, showed a lot of reasons that we should not neglect every single object that has specific history to be told.

D is for development. As history unfolds, the pickiness of the emperor of China gave a single shot on the development of design that is very crucial to the film. Design is simply a hybrid of another design. Based on previous design and/or other design, every object is a result of another object. As a matter of fact, objects are not simply created to be original rather to inspire for another.


Development of design constitutes history of man. As man continues to search for specific use and innovation of object, we can say that it is paralleled to the development. Object is a product of development and it is not behind our history. As we continue to search for the maturity of earth, we are being compelled to the notion that we are developed and we should have set of objects for the developed era.


E is for efficiency. Every object comes with every use. We derived spork based on the usage and the appeal of spoon and fork. If we are going to compare the object into a man; efficiency is simply its competence. If man is obsessed with his competence, objects are solely based on its efficiency and it is used for the arrival of our comfort. Efficiency is the main root of why every single object exists. It is why designers put so much effort on every detail that an object has, for an object without efficiency is a waste of money and effort. As cited in the film, we have so many things now that has no efficiency or outdated by other things and we have to make a move to clear these things. In addition to that, the term efficiency is set to be the most important description of a single object. It may not be the perfect object because of its design but it can help us do our job easily.


S is for style. The film talked about two important concepts of the object – the functionality and the physical impact of an object. As per film, nowadays, functionality is only an underlying use of an object. It is still the physical impact of an object and why people are attached to it. Furthermore, the great idea of hiding the functionality into its design is a continuous trend of the today’s view of an object. For example, the vacuum cleaner, it is still the design of the literal vacuum cleaner mattered to the one who is using it.


Style is also one of the reasons why an object is located to the place where people can see it. Aside from the colors and the features, style has been the main concern of the manufacturer. They put it on a test. Let’s take for example two objects with same features and use, the next thing that people will look is the style and how it was devised to appeal to the audience’s taste. Apple (as per film) is one of the companies that took style seriously compared to the other manufacturer. The uniqueness of every product showed the elegance of each product and put them on the top of the market next to functionality and price.


I is for individuality/ iconic. The individuality of the object constitutes to its target audience. Every object has the individuality that treated as the reason on why specific audience used it. Per se, the target market of a product is only for this set of group age but as years passed by it will become iconic to its user and turned into one of the necessities in life. With the number of objects available on the market, consumers think that individuality of the object still matters. We, as the consumers, are looking to specific object with specific use and it is an additional point if we discovered some of the object with multi-function (but that is the individuality of the product).


G is for goal oriented. As time has been offered to every design of an object, we realized that it is an industry driven by specific goal. As the film exampled about the handles of a sheer, they even put some explanation on its curve design and indeed, some companies spend millions of dollars just to arrive to something that they are looking for because of the continuous effort to attain their goals and they have to be on the market to sell /earn and they have to help consumers to have easier life and of course to compensate on their loss. 


N is for necessary and new. As one of the focuses of the film is the design, it also clearly explained that it should be something necessary and new. The new will become the old and there will be the new new. It is necessary for us people to use these objects but it would turn out as the new and it will be interchange by the new design and that is how the cycle of the design of object works. 


In general, we are being surrounded by objects every day. We take objects as the unnecessary things in life but this documentary film opened my eyes about how the objects are created and how other people put their lives and works into the simplicity of an object. The design of an object is made up of different stories from different walks of life. It is not a simple a, b and c that a designer will just draw the design and put it in the manufacturing site. It is the blood and sweat of every designer that people owed too much and because of this object, we have the simplicity on how we live and how we used it to cope with everyday tasks and adversity. 


The film is not just a film for objects. It is created to make us realize that life is not a simple task without the object they created and designed. The lives of people now are dependent too much on their creation that each and every day we take it not in a serious manner. Objects are not just objects because they just produced it with power and practicality and each of it, is to set a difference. It is not about the standardized consumption or that every object is just a part of manufacturing business, it is about the story behind the specific object.