let me first start by saying I REALLY LIKE THIS DOCUMENTARY.
What I thought when watching objectified was that it is extremely easy to become disconnected with the end result or solution when designing and I find that a constant struggle especially in studio where I sometimes have a strangely egotistical view that I should be brilliant and ground breaking then I think oh what can I make that's amazing instead of being practical and trying to improve a persons life or at least experience with this object.
Of course arguably the hardest part is making truly sustainable products due to the mass produced nature of our industry, but then this is where being realistic becomes most important. For instance if as a designer you had the honesty and humility to say like Karim Rashid does that my product is most likely temporary and will be replaced why can't my phone out of cardboard? It's almost as if we are trying to make some kind of permanent design legacy and our own ego is what contributes to a product's unsustainability.
Of course like Rob Walker says the name of the game is to sell things and the companies who are paying you will constrain you on materials and even forms etc. as long as it is cheap, but the real problem lies in the fact that most will want a new product next year and need it to make the current one dated. If sustainability is to really be addressed then the unnecessary production should cease. However this isn't going to happen unless a large societal shift occurs so where does that leave me as a designer? I'm now thinking Rashid is right and start making throwaway materials like pulped cardboard, bamboo's etc and embracing the throwaway life style.
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