If you find yourself with not much to do during the Christmas weekend or between the holidays, watching some of these design documentaries might a good idea how to spend your time. Enjoy!

Design is One: Lella & Massimo Vignelli

Italian-born Lella and Massimo Vignelli are among the world’s most influential designers. The work covers such a broad spectrum that one could say the Vignellis are known by everybody, even those who don’t know their names.Throughout their career, their motto has been, “If you can’t find it, design it.”

Available on Netflix and iTunes.

Helvetica

Helvetica is a feature-length independent film about typography, graphic design and global visual culture. It looks at the proliferation of one typeface as part of a larger conversation about the way type affects our lives.

Available on iTunes.

Objectified

Objectified is a feature-length documentary 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 gadgets. 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.

Available on Netflix and iTunes.

Design & Thinking

Design Thinking was applied as a term and methodology by a design firm in 2008. It was received as a tool to solve every problem, from daily life decisions to business challenges to world hunger problems. Attention and debates followed; some insisted on design education in all K-12 schools, some declared it is just marketing tool for that firm, some hoped it would turn his company into Apple. Some said it’s nothing new, just a new packaging of how creative people do things.

Available here: https://designthinkingmovie.com/.

Linotype: The Film

“Linotype: The Film” is a feature-length documentary centered around the Linotype type casting machine. Called the “Eighth Wonder of the World” by Thomas Edison, it revolutionized printing and society. The film tells the surprisingly emotional story of the people connected to the Linotype and how it impacted the world.

Available on iTunes.

Milton Glaser: To Inform and Delight

Artfully directed by first-time filmmaker Wendy Keys, the film glances into everyday moments of Glaser s personal life and captures his immense warmth and humanity, as well as the boundless depth of his intelligence and creativity.

Available on iTunes and Hulu.

And as a bonus, for creatives that also have to run a business:

Indie Game: The Movie

Indie Game: The Movie is a feature documentary about video games, their creators and the craft. The film follows the dramatic journeys of indie game developers as they create their games, and as they release those works, and themselves, to the world. Indie Game: The Movie is about making video games, but at its core, it’s about the creative process and exposing yourself through your work.

Available on iTunes.