Abstract: The Art of Design - Review


Abstract is a raw, edgy look into the very soul of design. If you didn’t before, you’ll finally understand what design is, what it means, what all designers have in common and how they are so very different. And, perhaps, how you can be a designer. Because the field of design is way more broad than most people think it is.

I’d bet that, no matter who you are, even if you’re in design, you will learn a lot from this series, and not just about design but about productivity, brainstorming and the importance of focus and dedication. Abstract looks at design from a completely new angle, a sort of insider look, but also an underneath and above and every angle in between sort of look. It’s a view that I don’t think has ever been documented before.

Each documentary is filmed in such a way as to be unique to the views and practices and art of the specific designer. In Es Devlin’s episode on stage design, the film unfolds like a stage, complete with clips of Devlin “tearing” away parts of the sky to peek in on the shot. In the episode on Christoph Niemann (the illustrator) the whole thing strings together like a cartoon, staring a cartoon version of Mr. Niemann himself. In the episode on Tinker Hatfield and his shoe design, the film shines in the squeaky clean colorfulness of Nike sneakers. Each episode fully encapsulates the ideas it is trying to convey, to the point where the episode almost becomes the medium being described.

Some notes on randomness: Randomness is something I noticed a lot in the series. The randomness of art. How it doesn’t make sense why the artist chose one shape or color or medium over another. Creativity and art seem to the onlooker——to me——just a lot of separate things brought together into a coherent, beautiful, unique whole. Randomness, the surprise of it, the way it has to be studied and interpreted, is what makes it art. Maybe randomness is art.


In the end, underneath all the art and the inspiration and the hard work and the struggles, the message of Abstract——and design in general——is a message of hope. All the designers view the world in terms of what’s possible, not what’s impossible. They see what no one has seen before them, and they strive to create their visions.

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