Help us create the best design movie list ever

15/06/2010

We want to build the best list of design (interaction, information, industrial, product design and architecture) movies and documentaries of all times. Here’s the deal: write down in the comment section the name of a film or doc that’s somehow design related and, in return, we’ll give you a code to watch any movie in Filmin‘s (Spain’s best streaming service for indie film) catalog for free.

We also have a promo code for a premium account at Filmin (any movie, any time anywhere) which we’ll give to the person who makes the best list (it’s ok to repeat some movie suggested by someone else). Easy peasy japanesey. A neat gift for little effort.

These are the movies/docs we have so far:

Kitchen Stories (Bent Hamer, 2003)

The Fountainhead (King Vidor, 1949)

Tucker: The Man and his Dream (Francis Ford Coppola, 1988)

Helvetica (Gary Hustwit, 2007)

Powers of 10 (and other films by Ray y Charles Eames, 1977)

The RTVE series ‘Elogio de la luz‘, each episode covering an architect

The Belly of an Architect (Peter Greenaway, 1987)

Sketches of Frank Gehry (Sydney Pollack, 2005)

Play Time (Jacques Tati, 1967)

Full disclosure: We’ve done Filmin’s web redesign and we love it (the service, not the redesign. Well… both). We’ll go into details in a future post.

There are 18 comments in this article:

15/06/2010Carlos Úbeda say:

The effects of design…
Koolhaas Houselife (Bêka & Louise Lemoine, 2008)

Although it is not a film, the fifteenth episode of The Simpsons’ 2nd season (“Oh Brother, Where Art Thou”, about Homer’s brother) is, in my opinion, one of the best (and funniest) stories about bad user-centered design :-D
15/06/2010Carlos Úbeda say:

mmm… I just noticed that Simpsons’ episode was slightly inspired by Tucker story.
I wanna see that Coppola film!
15/06/2010Ariel Guers say:

The shock of the new / Robert Hughes
http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcfour/documentaries/features/shock-new-eps.shtml
Mostly about art, but a good deal of episodes 1 and 4 delve into modern design.

The Ascent of Man / Jacob Bronowski.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Ascent_of_Man
Another groundbreaking BBC documentary, several episodes devoted to technology and design from a scientific perspective

Several films from the Prelinger archives come to my mind, specially “American Look”, you can find them at archive.org http://bit.ly/9ZGKIS

IDEO and their design thinking heads:
http://bit.ly/zCN
see excerpt here:
http://www.univision.com/uv/video/ABC-Nightline—IDEO-Shopping-Cart/id/1824630556

Alan Kay, also from the Internet Archive
Alan Kay: Doing with Images Makes Symbols
http://www.archive.org/details/AlanKeyD1987
http://www.archive.org/details/AlanKeyD1987_2

That is all for now.
15/06/2010Mikel Seijas say:

WIND(1992) Carroll Ballard
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0105824/

About Americas Cup.

The scene in the river and after in the pool…, the roles fight (designer, producer, performers)
15/06/2010Ariel Guers say:

And you (I assume) forgot to include Gary Hustwit’s second: Obectified

This one about Piano Making deserves to be on list (it is about craftmanship not quite the same as design though)
http://www.notebynotethemovie.com
(never mind the skip intro)
15/06/2010Olga say:

Sometimes we have to look back at our footprints…
http://www.vostok.es/blog/peliculas-sobre-diseno#comments
15/06/2010Olga say:

Y por supuesto, “Objectified”.
15/06/2010john williamson say:

JIMI HENDRIX CLASSIC ALBUMS SPANISH 1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CtMmYTBPBmU
Shows a the creative process and a creative genius at work making arguably the best Rock album to this day. OK.. I know it’s not a film, but.. Hey!

Top Gear Season 14 Episode 7
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uwjXoHLP_7U
Top Gear’s James May talks to the British road signs designer Margaret Calvert. OK.. I know it’s not a film, but it’s information design nonetheless.

The Dam Busters
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Dam_Busters_(film)
The Dam Busters is a 1955 British war film, set during the Second World War. The first part involves Inventor Barnes Wallis struggling to develop a means of attacking Germany’s dams, working feverishly to make practical his theory of a bouncing bomb.

Lotus Elise Inside Story
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7072924456318931568#
The TV programme about the design of the Lotus Elise. Takes from its’ concept through to the logistics of car manufacture.

Alien
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alien_(film)
If you look really carefully, there’s some cool futuristic interface designs which look very usable in an awesome interfacey way. OK… cutting the BS.. it’s just one of the best “designed” films (pace, story-telling, emotion, etc.) It has the lot.
15/06/2010Ariel Guers say:

And more from the BBC
The Genius of Design:

Ep 1: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00sc85s
Ep 2: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00sf992
Ep 3: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00sj1fg
Ep 4: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00slplb
Ep 5: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00snmqy

The first two are available on Vimeo:
http://vimeo.com/12112900
15/06/2010Tweets that mention The Cosmonauts: Help us create the best design movie list ever -- Topsy.com say:

[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Javier Cañada, Javier Cañada. Javier Cañada said: Help us create the best design movie list ever http://www.vostok.es/blog/help-us-create-the-best-design-movie-list-ever [...]
15/06/2010Nuria Herrero say:

I´d suggest Jacques Tati´s hellish office in Play Time and that unforgettable garden and kitchen in Mon Oncle :-)
15/06/2010Daniel say:

Jorgen Leth’s shortfilm “The perfect human” (1967)
16/06/2010Gabriela say:

This is turning into a pretty good list. Thanks. I’ll send you your promotional codes via email.

Carlos Úbeda: let me know to which email I should send yours (gabrielaATvostok.es)

Olga: True. Back in the day we started a similar list. We’ve picked it up again because it’d be fun to organize movie sessions at the studio for friends and anyone else who might be interested. Popcorn and all.

So far, it looks like Ariel Guers is coming up with the best list. Anyone else up for a good challenge for that premium account? ’cause the call is still open…
16/06/2010Gabriela say:

well, to be honest John Williamson is giving quite a battle as well.

What about Nathaniel Kahn’s, My Architect (2003) about the life of his father, Louis Kahn?
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0373175/
16/06/2010Ariel Guers say:

Yet another two on type

Etched in Stone
http://www.veer.com/ideas/etched/

Behind the typeface
http://cheshiredave.com/mastication/2002/07/0037a-btt.html

Ariel
22/06/2010Gabriela say:

OK, so that’s a wrap up. Everyone will agree that Mr. Guers is the winner of this mini contest. Ariel, I’ll get in touch. I hope you enjoy your prize :)
23/06/2010The Cosmonauts: An update on movies and design say:

[...] the end we came up with a pretty good compilation of design films. Thank you. We’ll make a selection and post the final movie list soon. Finally, I guess [...]
23/06/2010Sergio say:

Quince Tree of the Sun (El sol del membrillo) from Víctor Erice, 1992.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0105438/

THE COSMONAUTS

Help us create the best design movie list ever

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