Objectified: Response

After watching the documentary Objectified, I found that the consistent talk about the importance of how objects connect to people stuck with me significantly. The technical aspect of the documentary was also very interesting, however, I found the personal connections and stories one can make to an object much more inspiring. The fact that designers are designing things for people is expressed often, and many of the designers interviewed in the film talk about the story that these objects tell and the fact that these objects can be a form of self-expression. 

Thus I decided to model a variety of small objects, some modern and some analog, a person could easily see themselves forming any sort of connection with, in a red wagon to give a sense of childlike nostalgia and to get a person to think about what objects in their spaces do they feel attached or connected to. 

    There were a few quotes from the film that spurred this line of thinking on, the first being Karim Rashid reminiscing about a speaker he had owned when younger, 

"Looking back and thinking why it was a beautiful thing, was because it was very self-contained and the message was very simple, and at the same time very human." 

I think that this demonstrates just how much personal connection has to do with design, the connection that a person makes to something they own is an experience that every person has. Oftentimes these things are mundane, such as a person's favourite mug, a childhood toy, or something small picked up from a gift shop.  The importance of these objects is subjective, and the intricacies of their designs are not often what makes them so special to a person. 

"You're going to pick the objects with the most meaning to you because those are the objects that truly reflect the true story of who you are... because that's the only audience that matters." - Rob Walker

The primary emphasis of the documentary was people, how what is created affects people, and the stories objects can tell about people. I found this emphasis on emotional, human attachment to things to be of particular interest, so I thought I would compile a bunch of objects that could imply emotional significance, as well as the potential story of a person.