When I tell people that my favorite Full Frame film from 2007 was Helvetica, I get the inevitable “You mean the font?” Yes, the film revolves around the Swiss typeface that is so common in everyday use you don’t even notice it anymore, but the film is about more than just “the font.” It follows the path of graphic design through the industry’s superstars, those who love Helvetica, and those who hate it. Ultimately taking on the debate of modernism vs. post-modernism, the film has become an icon in the graphic design community, and its creator, Gary Hustwit, one of the heroes.

Helvetica was the directorial debut for Hustwit, who before had produced 6 films including I Am Trying To Break Your Heart (a documentary about Wilco) and Drive Well, Sleep Carefully (a documentary about Death Cab For Cutie). His newest film, Objectified, premiered at this year’s SXSW, and makes its way to the Triangle this Saturday as part of the Full Frame Documentary Film Festival in Durham. This film takes on a different kind of design that proliferates our world, that of the objects that surround us. Hustwit describes the film as “about our complex relationship with manufactured objects and, by extension, the people who design them. It’s a look at the creativity at work behind everything from toothbrushes to tech gadget. It’s about the designers who re-examine, re-evaluate and re-invent our manufactured environment on a daily basis. It’s about personal expression, identity, consumerism, and sustainability.” Wow. Yet another one that has designers already buzzing with excitement from its SXSW premiere.

With a new film currently debuting around the country, Gary is a busy guy, but was wonderful enough to answer 5 quick questions about his filmmaking:

What inspired you to get into film making?

Punk rock, of course! A lot of my friends were in bands when I was in college, which led to me helping them release records and book tours, which led to me working at the punk label SST Records, which led to me writing and publishing books about music, which led me to helping friends make a few music documentaries (like the Wilco film), which led to me deciding I wanted to make Helvetica.

What lead to you make films about design?

I guess I’m just a design geek… I’m not a “real” graphic designer, but I’ve had Macintosh computers for the past 20 years and I’ve always been a fan of graphic design. So I really just wanted to see a film about graphic design and typography, and when I couldn’t find one on Amazon I just decided to make one.

Objectified was slightly different, I think I was trying to explore some of my own feelings about all the manufactured objects we surround ourselves with. We touch hundreds of different objects every day, from toothbrushes to cell phones to car door handles to computers… who are the people behind all these things, and why do they look and work the way they do? Can objects be designed better, or more efficiently? Why do we want these things, and do we really need all this stuff? Those were questions on my mind, and it turns out that the people who design these objects are thinking the same things.

So let’s just say I had more design-related questions I wanted to explore. And that’s how I see these films, as explorations. They don’t really have a “story” in the traditional sense, and they don’t provide any answers, which I think is the most important point. Documentaries shouldn’t answer the viewers’ questions about a certain subject, they should provoke the viewer to ask more questions themselves, about their own relationship to the subject matter. If I made a film that answered all your questions about product design, I’d consider that a total failure.

More than just a film about a font, Helvetica argued modernism vs. post-modernism. Which way do you lean and why?

Recently I’ve been leaning more towards a clean, structured Modernist design style. I like things simple… just give me the message, and don’t try to dress it up or spin it some way.

Music has been a major character in all the films you have been involved with. What does a music loving audience have to look forward to with Objectified?

More El Ten Eleven! They’re this amazing instrumental band from LA. They sort of stole the show in Helvetica, and I’ve used a few new songs from them in Objectified along with some original score by Kristian Dunn, the guitarist from the band. There’s a lot of new artists too, and maybe a bit more ambient-type stuff. Alva Noto, Mahogany, Matthew Dear, Arp.

What is something you learned when making Objectified? that has changed the way you view how products/objects are made?

I probably better appreciate how much work goes into manufacturing the simplest object, and I think more about the objects that I buy. I mean, people are probably reading this on a computer… look at how straight that metal edge on your laptop is! And what kind of metal is that? Where did it come from? What’s going to happen to this computer battery in 50 years??? These are some of the questions I ask myself now, and hopefully the people who see the film will look at the objects around them a little differently too.

Objectified is screening in Fletcher Hall with Steel Homes @ 5:15 this Saturday, April 4. Visit the Full Frame festival schedule for a complete listing of the film screenings all weekend.