Interaction of content and form in Objectified

There are many items that people as a whole disregard daily and with ease.  The everyday products that we use, items that surround us, and things that we would never spare more than a thought or a passing glance at, meld into the background that is life.  Though seemingly unimportant in the grand scale of things, how they came to be and what form they take today is often overlooked and understated in their quality.  After watching the film, Objectified, a documentary film by Gary Hustwit, I came to understand how innocuous day to day items are actually products of extensive research and design.

A simple object such as a vegetable peeler, for instance, has come a long way from its initial creation.  The image to the left is an example of a peeler that I myself used to own.  This item was able to perform its function of skinning my vegetables, but the successful usage of the product was always shadowed by the unpleasant design of the handle.  Comprised of a thin metal bar molded into the silhouette of a handle, with the peeler attached to one end and secured via a small bolt or locking mechanism on the other end, nothing about this product spoke of comfort.  The handle did not conform particularly well with the natural curve and shape of a persons hand when gripping the item.  Although the item was able to perform its proposed function, the form in which it was designed was ill conceived.  Understanding the purpose of such simple items is important.  The goal of the designer was to create something that assisted in peeling vegetables.  The content or significance of the item was perceived, and ultimately achieved.  In this case and with many others, however, the form in which the designer gave it did not correspond well with the content.  The designer did not take into consideration who might be using this product and for how long a period of time.  Anyone ranging from a young child learning how to cook, an elderly person with arthritic hands, or a chef cooking for a large mess hall with hundreds of potatoes to skin could come across this product.  In this initial design, the interaction between the content and the form was unsuitable, but luckily, the vegetable peeler has come a long way from this grisly piece of metal.  Comfortable, easy to grip handles can now be found at your local grocers.


This is only an example of a singular item that can be and has been improved. Today, it has been recognized that the form of an object ties in directly with the successful design of any product.  Let us hope that the future of design continues with this ideal in mind and products like the one above may be improved, or never have been made to begin with.