The documentaries Helvetica, Objectified and Urbanized by filmmaker and producer Gary Hustwit form a trilogy about design in everyday life. Hustwit works without any preconceived idea or agenda. What inspired him to make this series was his curiosity about the usefulness and necessity of design. But is that enough?

The concept underpinning each of the three documentaries is the same: an impressive cast of influential experts from all over the world tell enthusiastic stories, all backed up by wonderful images, appealing music and, to round it off, well-crafted typography and fine graphics. And so the form of the documentary series itself harmonizes perfectly and seamlessly with its subject matter.

Letter
Helvetica (2009) is a documentary about that sans-serif typeface developed in 1957 by the Haas Type Foundry in Münchenstein in Switzerland. In his documentary Hustwit sets out to discover why and how the typeface was created. A small army of typographers, graphic designers and theoreticians tell lyrical stories about and comment on the letters, figures and punctuation marks of Helvetica. Among them are Massimo Vignelli (IBM, American Airlines, New York City Subway), Wim Crouwel (New Alphabet, Fodor and Gridnik fonts), David Carson (Nike, MGM, Mercedes-Benz and author of End of Print) and Eric Spiekermann (FF Meta, Berliner Grotesk and ITC Officina Sans fonts). They make us believe that the world would look really different without the graphic beauty of a good letter. Helvetica is such a good typeface, but it's also subjected to criticism now and again. Some say it's too boring, too vacant, and too directive - since Helvetica is used for so many signs and notices in public space. Helvetica is even blamed for the Vietnam War, because all of corporate America made advertisements with this typeface at the time. Emotions stirred up by a letter can run high.
In places the documentary is also a touch provocative. Swinging back and forth between serious research into the origin of the letter, an endless series of declarations of love for the typeface, and the nonchalant appearance of the letter in everyday life makes the documentary serious, hilarious and glossy at the same time.

Object
Things become more personal and serious in Objectified (2009). Hustwit shows us the design and development process behind everyday objects. The documentary is about personal expression, consumer identity and sustainability in relation to toothpicks, trimming shears, telephones, chairs, tables, laptops, bicycles and cars. Design god Dieter Rams (Braun) and his self-appointed disciple Jonathan Ive (Apple) both offer their views. So too do the Bouroullec brothers, Marc Newson and Karim Rashid, all of whom explain how their designs and products are made. Almost all of them dryly explain that functionality and ergonomy lead to a logical choice of form and material and naturally result in a fine and timeless product. The design curators and journalists lined up are at a loss for words to tell us over and over that design makes the life of an item bearable. While designers believe they can add emotion to a product, critics are all too eager to impose an emotion on us. After watching, you immediately believe that design adds value, but it remains unclear whether this value is achieved because of or in spite of users, marketing, commercial success and/or media attention.

City
The final documentary in the trilogy is Urbanized (2011). Taking examples from all over the world, Hustwit shows how living in the city has become second nature to us. Over the past fifty years, modernization and globalization have drastically changed urban life. Current urbanization is turning the limited living space in the city into a (scarce) consumer good.

This continues the line set out in the first two documentaries, but the scale of this consumer good is really very big. Buildings would have formed a logical next step up from letters and chairs, but Hustwit skips this step for reasons left unclear. Although architects do feature in Urbanized, they are just one of the many actors involved in creating the city and urban life. Urbanized is a patently obvious declaration of love for the city as the centre of our everyday lives. A very lengthy parade of people from all over the world discuss their aims, approaches and successes. In Bogota we cycle with former mayor Enrique Peñalosa along the carefully paved cycle lanes of his city. Urban designer and architect Jan Gehl from Copenhagen teaches us the ideal dimensions of a square and street. And in New York the impossible comes true. Amanda Burden of the NYC Department of Planning doesn't bat an eyelid as she explains that the current plans match the level of ambition of Robert Moses, yet they somehow also satisfy the criteria defined by Jane Jacobs. Exactly what every city wants!

It's all shot beautifully, but almost no attention is paid to the consequences of urbanization. Slum areas in Mumbai and Rio de Janeiro appear appealingly raw, and the People Mover in Detroit looks like a nice attraction in a city awaiting completion.

Only form
The cinematography in all three documentaries is simply wonderful, and their open narrative structure intrigues. Instead of deploying any inexorable voice-overs, Hustwit conveys his subjects clearly by means of images and interview fragments arranged in the right sequence. While an ode to a typeface illuminates and an impassioned explanation of a chair fascinates, a hymn to the city is of a totally different order. Helvetica and Objectified make viewers aware of the everyday qualities of design, but Urbanized qualifies people. A successful future seems granted to urbanites alone. A city is more than an accumulation of exciting initiatives and inspiring urban designers, architects, planners, policy-makers, builders, thinkers and residents. The lack of any analysis that takes into account the pros and cons of urbanization exposes the shortcomings of the whole series clearly and painfully. These documentaries are merely an uncritical succession of pleasing images and interesting people. Stories too beautiful to be true.

View online: Helvetica , Objectified , Urbanized

Article is also published on the website of AFFR and Archined.