As I delve deeper into the design process I finding watching art and design film documentaries to be very helpful. Rather than just read books, magazines and blogs on web design, web development, graphic design, content strategy, etc; I needed to give myself a break.

Its a visual treat to watch art and design film documentaries because they are easy to process, short in length and offer good narratives. I draw inspiration from all the films for my own web projects listed below as they are great references to art and design. I highly recommend you to watch these films and hopefully they’ll inspire your next web project.

Exit Through The Gift Shop

Great art documentary film on the background of street art. At first I thought this film documents the history of graffiti. Instead, it let me discover a fascinating world to art and design in pop culture through street art.

It has a good story narrative besides just documenting street art. There is a sense of irony after watching this film because its similar to the state of web design. What makes you an artist and what is art?

Same can be said about web design. If you have the tools to create a website, does that make you a web designer?

This is definitely a must watch documentary film about street art. I think it’ll inspire you to yearn to learn more and getting better at your craft.

Art & Copy

Documentary on the greatest marketing advertisement campaigns and the clever masterminds behind them. Art & Copy is one of the coolest documentaries for me personally. It has a nostalgic feel thanks to showcasing the great advertisements of my generation such as the “Got Milk” campaign, or Nike’s “Just Do It’ slogan and Apple Macintosh 1984 Super Bowl ad.

Credit goes to the agencies responsible for creating these viral marketing campaigns. The combination of creating clever messages and the use of powerful graphic designs produced memorable advertisements. Even more inspiring is that these campaigns took place prior to all the technology hoopla available to us now such as using social networking, YouTube videos and mobile technology.

I strongly recommend Art & Copy because it will give you a nice background in advertisement marketing and it’ll definitely give you a few ideas to work with for your next online marketing and graphic design project.

Helvetica

The origins of Helvetica, the world’s most popular and widely used font. Hate it or love it, it is here and many swear its perfection. I am amazed there is enough material to fill a film documenting just one single typeface. And even more amazed on how entertaining the movie was for me.

As a web designer, its important to learn more about typography and the type design process including knowing the difference between font and typeface. Unlike designers that specialize in print, web designers deal with what is on the screen.

However, print design has been around much longer and there is much to be learned for a web designer from it. A web designer should incorporate the knowledge, usages and design processes taken from print designers.

Helvetica is a great movie to learn more about typography, graphic design and global visual culture.

Objectified

Every day things we use and usually take for granted all went through a design process. Simple things like household items from fruit peelers to laptops. Objectified is an interesting film documentary about the design of things.

The subjects discussed in Objectified relate to web design because we can incorporate the though processes to how to improve user experience and creating better user interfaces for sites. To cut out the garbage and unnecessary elements in our web designs. To not over design and losing focus of the purpose of the site.

Milton Glaser: Inform and Delight

Into the mind and history of great designer, Milton Glaser. If you don’t know, this man is responsible for the iconic “I ♥ NY” and Bob Dylan album cover. You’ll draw inspiration from one the greatest minds in graphic design for over forty years.

As a web designer, we’re still uncertain on how the web and Internet will continue to evolve. However, great design is timeless. And creativity should not be restricted.

It makes me want to sign up and spend my summer learning from him. And to visit New York because it is such an awesome city with so much to discover.

Between The Folds

Amazing origami documentary that will introduce you to the amazing world of folding paper into any object imaginable. It is crazy to see some of the origami designs and art pieces created.

A lesson to be learned from this film documentary is that web design starts with an open canvas like a piece of plain paper. With your ideas, you can take that canvas to great heights. But you will need to thoroughly plan, practice and continue to learn and be inspired like these origami artists.

Bonus Documentary Film: Botany of Desire

Botany of Desire is a film documenting plants and nature. It specifically shows how nature copes with re-designing itself to continue evolving so humans will interact with it.

Design and nature is conflicted. What is designed cannot be natural right? Well, in nature both can happen. This really isn’t an art and design documentary but I enjoyed watching it.

You draw clues from how nature deals with seducing humans to act. Like our graphic designs, web designs or marketing messages; we want it to interact and offer a memorable experience for our viewers and users.

Like plants dealing with re-inventing itself, as web designers we need to evolve and continue to add new skills to our repertoire so we can display them in our projects.

Take The Lessons Learned and Employ Them

After watching all these film documentaries, each one offers a lesson for me to help further my skills in design. It’s a nice break from reading or coding or composing.

I enjoyed these films so much I decided to write a post to share. I highly recommend you watching these, in no particular order but just to watch and enjoy. If your a designer in any field, you’ll definitely enjoy these art and design film documentaries.

If you have any other film documentary recommendations, I’d love to hear from you. Hopefully, they’ll inspire you to do better work and create more creative web projects.

Take a look at this photo mural that expands for a hundred meters.  It is titled “We’re All Gonna Die“.   I found it interestingly unique and fascinating as it was shot from the same location over a span of twenty days.  There are some interesting expressions put together.

I particularly found the two people with the eye patches (one with it over their right eye and the other over their left) to be funny.  I wonder if the shot was taken at the same time of a couple or if it was pieced together through thousands of photos taken in those twenty days.  Regardless, I found it interestingly enough to share and put my thoughts on it.

What do you think about it?

There is something different and special about matchboxes. It could be simplicity of the size, the odor of the wooden matches when lit, or the art and design that is created on the limited space. I cannot say when I decided to start collecting matchboxes but it has always intrigued me. It is a souvenir, a memory and a time capsule all bound into one.

These days, it is harder to come by unless you are an avid traveler and you stay at hotels or eat at nice restaurants. I find the coolest matchboxes come from these places. A matchbox serves several purposes:

• It promotes a location; whether its a restaurant, a hotel, a mall, etc.
• It is an utility; it lets you light fire to have a cigarette or to just the urge to burn something.
• It is art; different logos, combination of colors and the simplicity of it all is very appealing.

All these factors has led me to have always collected matchboxes on my travels. Its a piece of where I have been and I can one day share it with my friends, my children and grandchildren. Especially now that smoking is such a social taboo; matchboxes can soon be extinct.

Save matchboxes and preserve a piece of history.

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