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Abstract The Art of Design_Season 1 (Netflix)

Updated: Sep 13, 2021


Abstract The Art of Design is a Netflix show specifically about design and how it impacts everyday life. I am watching season 1 of this show for inspiration from innovative designers that have impacted our culture and way of life so my design work can improve. Here is what I have learned:



Episode 1 – Christoph Niemann: Illustration


1. Find the big picture

2. How much to reveal?

3. Create work time

4. There is no formula for perfect art

5. Get rid of anything that isn’t essential to the point

6. Teachers can be tough

7. Create variations

8. Each idea requires particular info

9. Learn about culturally impactful art

10. Strong illustration sometimes doesn’t need words

11. Play between 2D & 3D

12. Think about how people view items

13. Go to where you feel at home

14. View things as basic shapes

15. Real life & work life sometimes don’t mix

16. Tight timelines can create great spontaneous work

17. Balance focus on craft & asking greater questions

18. Ask people in your life their perspectives

19. Change directions while things are good in your life

20. Leave some mystery

21. Sometimes plans don’t form

22. Movement can form art

23. Read interesting books

24. Break down elements & re-arrange them

25. Mediums can change

26. Balance structured & free-spirited personalities

27. Allow yourself to investigate blank pages

28. Youthful spark may fade, but new interest emerges

29. Listen to music

30. Create new stories by tell old stories in different ways



Episode 2 – Tinker Hatfield: Footwear Design


1. Think about different usages for product

2. Think about clients’ goals

3. Test frequently

4. Think about people with disabilities

5. Think about barriers

6. Come up solutions to important problems

7. Design isn’t about self-expression, it about solving peoples’ problems through visual appeal

8. Create free form thinking sketches

9. Sometimes you are forced into different directions

10. Find inspiration in the ugly

11. Think about clients’ emotions during their task

12. Try to predict the future of the product

13. Incorporate tech

14. Disrupt comfortable thoughts

15. Prototypes can help client understand

16. Watch your product in action

17. Continuing to create new from the old can be challenging

18. Build a great relationship with your client

19. Include verbiage from your conversations

20. One big failure does not end your career

21. Keep working and thinking of new ideas


Episode 3 – Es Devlin: Stage Design


1. Start without light to find it

2. Tear paper in half to solve conflicts

3. Give your all in a project

4. Figure out how

5. Research question you have

6. Feel out a space

7. Evoke emotion through scenery

8. Function does not need to be known to design

9. Make models

10. Not all projects are successful

11. Find relationships between music & images

12. Search junk shops

13. Deconstruct your materials

14. Ask “why?”

15. What would amplify the experience?

16. Play with perception & mirror illusions

17. Look for a spiritual experience

18. Sign you name

19. Build anticipation

20. New tech can create different angles

21. Look down from above

22. Play with scale

23. Find patterns & create systems

24. Walk around the room for different angle

25. Be abstract with symbolism

26. Consider time

27. Consider surrealism

28. Your projects are temporary



Episode 4 – Bjarke Ingels: Architecture


1. Analyze your dreams

2. Turn fiction into reality

3. You can start at any age

4. Think about quality of life

5. Think environmentally friendly

6. Make the conventional magical

7. Study many different artists

8. Get out of you comfort zone & return

9. Disagreements can be embarrassing

10. Decisions sometimes must be made quickly

11. Combine things that perform differently

12. You may deviate from your projected path

13. Build a communities

14. Fast fame can be overwhelming

15. Old professors can be your toughest skeptics

16. Break the rules

17. Accommodate diversity

18. Move to where you have space

19. Gaining materials can take a long time

20. Include everyone’s in-put

21. Should we repeat ourselves

22. Negative comments can be painful

23. What defines you, you can take for granted

24. Visit home to be reminded of your past & remember what is important

25. Propose the impossible (powerplant with skate park on top)

26. Think of your customers’ health

27. Combine necessity with poetry



Episode 5 – Ralph Gilles: Automotive Design


1. Give objects a soul

2. Innovate to be noticed

3. It takes a lot maintain a brand

4. Sometimes major changes are made in the middle

5. Think of all the different environments it will be in

6. Think about questions you asked a kid

7. Trust you gut instinct

8. Great design lasts forever

9. Try to match great design & affordability

10. Incorporate tech

11. Your invention can become a culture

12. Change discussions

13. New tech can leave you conflicted

14. Teachers can foster your passion

15. Write dream companies letters

16. Companies write back

17. Solve multiple problems

18. Taste making takes time

19. Creators create taste

20. Sometimes people will hate your design, but like it over time

21. Mergers can mean losing your job

22. Falling back on family can help you through rough times

23. Not matter how tough times are don’t compromise your product

24. In a new environment, learn as much as you can

25. Combine function & beauty

26. Feeling nervous meeting your heroes is normal

27. Celebrate the wins



Episode 6 – Paula Scher: Graphic Design


1. Type is everywhere

2. Messages are different

3. Study old backs

4. Move around

5. Start on scrapes of paper

6. Have room to walk around

7. Step backwards

8. Work with others for ideas

9. Play with weight

10. Type can be an identity

11. Find images in type

12. Create emotion

13. Use your hands

14. Simplify the complicated

15. Play with serious & fun topics

16. Weave information to make a bigger thing

17. Explore your identities

18. Practice

19. Play with big names

20. Sometime your worst work everyone will love

21. Ideas come from boring places

22. Be in state of play

23. Play with geometric shapes

24. Identity systems exist in many ways

25. Create a process evolving old works

26. Turn a vibe into an image

27. People want to copy your success

28. Design your food to get ideas

29. Work with who your compatible

30. Design has an impact on real life

31. Take pride in where you live

32. Critique bad designs

33. Develop a public language

34. Think about product placement

35. Meetings are like a debate



Episode 7 – Platon: Photography


1. Camera is a tool to help tell a story

2. When editing focus on parts of the photos

3. Think lighting & position

4. Create unique compositions

5. Prepare for others’ personalities

6. Be open to hear your clients’ stories

7. Relationships can be brief

8. Find power & dignity in high- & low-profile individuals

9. Look at objects in relation to yourself

10. Only keep what in necessary

11. Provoke to spark change

12. Tools take a backseat to story

13. Try to feel what your subject is feeling

14. Try to show people who they are

15. Tragedy can come at your highest success point

16. Capture the details of humanity

17. Change up your settings

18. The hero is the person who makes us think about our own moral compass

19. Inspire change in others

20. Interview you subject & create bridges

21. Bring light to unknown issues

22. Gestures work in communication barriers

23. Every moment is precious, make sure you capture it

24. Tools should not dominate us

25. Encourage your subject

26. Capture an event

27. Get close to the soul



Episode 8 – Ilse Crawford: Interior Design


1. People will trivialize your job

2. Design effects how we feel & behave

3. Design is a tool to enhance our humanity

4. Start a strategy

5. Shift from theatrical to settle

6. People act differently in different spaces

7. Bring luxury to the common people

8. Writing help you have a “aha” moment

9. Seek mentors that will give you opportunity to practice

10. Revamp the old

11. Encourage people to take care of themselves

12. Think of the future of a product

13. Use the five senses

14. Answers will appear when you investigate

15. Ask questions, observe, & listen

16. Think about the clients’ goal

17. Try to encourage healthy change

18. Experiment with materials

19. Think of the energy your client spends

20. Marry aesthetics & comfort

21. Think about the clients’ relationships

22. Collaborate & refine

23. Research sustainable materials for products

24. Build on existing sites

25. Make the ordinary extraordinary

26. Build trust with your client

27. Think about your clients’ everyday activities

28. Combine needs

29. Teach what you have learned

30. Provide tools to those who need it



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