TV Shows and films about design and creativity to inspire you!

For a good creative, new ideas can come from everywhere. Swiss electronic engineer Georges de Mestral, for example, was inspired by seeds of the burdock plant – which stuck to his coat and his dog’s hair – to create Velcro® in 1948.

It is with this same curious look that, here at Pande, we seek to learn about other realities, cultures and processes, in order to create innovative solutions for our customers. And the movies about design and creativity are quite a source of inspiration!

Through these productions, we not only have the chance to learn from other creatives, but also to understand how they deal with their difficulties. And let’s agree, this is essential for us, right? And as we love to share our references, we have prepared a special selection of movies and TV Shows for those who follow our blog. Prepare your bucket of popcorn and enjoy the session!

Helvetica (Gary Hustwit, 2007)

In this independent feature film, American photographer and filmmaker Gary Hustwit conducts a series of interviews to understand the origins and impact of one of the most well-known typographic sources in the world: Helvetica. This icon of Swiss design from the 1960s and 1970s was created by Max Miedinger and Eduard Hoffmann in 1957 and won the world when Linotype started selling it in 1961. In addition to paying tribute to the source of the font, the documentary invites us to think about how typography can influence visual culture.

With this same approach to the impact of design on our daily lives, Gary Hustwit also directed the documentaries “Objectified” (2009) and “Urbanized” (2011). The first shows the creative process involved in the design of famous objects in the history of design, such as Apple computers and the Panton chair, and their dialogues with people’s daily lives. The second, on the other hand, investigates what contemporary urban projects have to tell us about the future of cities. It is worth binge-watch it!

Feels Good Man (Arthur Jones, 2020)

The pacifist Matt Furie, cartoonist who created the character Pepe the Frog, could not predict the proportions that his character would take, inspired by the adventures he and his friends lived in college days. The smiling frog came out of his independent publication, spread through memes on the internet, was appropriated by extremist groups and helped to change the direction of the American election in 2016. To tell this story and Furie’s struggle to recover the sweetness of his creation that Arthur Jones made the documentary.

The film, winner of the Special Jury Prize for best new documentary for director debuting at the Sundance Festival, helps us to reflect on the risks brought by the internet – and, especially, by the culture of memes – to the authorship of projects. After all, everything that inspires and impresses us in the digital world comes from a place and from someone’s creative process. How about meeting these people and thinking more about what we share on our networks?

Abstract: The Art of Design (produção de Scott Dadich, 2017)

Here, we’re at home! Jokes aside, in this two-season Netflix series, produced by former editor-in-chief of Wired magazine, Scott Dadich, we follow the journeys and processes of designers from different areas: from Paula Scher, typography, to Tinker Hatfield, Nike shoes. This is totally worth seeing, of course with a notebook in hand, to write down the references and quotes!

Each episode is directed by a different filmmaker, which allows us to follow different ways of telling stories. And some are available for free on the Netflix YouTube channel.

Cutie and the Boxer (Zachary Heinzerling, 2013)

In this film, which ran for the Oscar for Best Feature Documentary and won a Sundance, we followed the journey of Ushio Shinohara, one of the most prestigious visual artists today, and his wife, Noriko, also an artist.

In addition to knowing Ushio’s (chaotic!) Processes, we also observed how they impact on the personal life of the couple, who have been together for more than 40 years despite all the “nitpicking” between these two artists of difficult genius. Try not to fall in love with them!

Art & Copy (Doug Pray, 2009)

Do you know the minds that created some of the most important slogans in Western history? In this documentary, filmmaker Doug Pray talked to people like Dan Wieden – an advertiser who created Nike’s slogan, “Just Do It” – and sought to understand the impact of advertising on our culture.

Going through the creative revolution of the 1960s – which we follow in series like Mad Men – to the present day, the film shows how people with a creative spirit end up falling into a branch of dimensions still not understood.

According to Doug Pray, the intention in creating the film was to influence artists and copywriters to understand the impact of their work on the world and to invite them to create pieces with more purpose. Check it out and get inspired!

Chef’s Table (2015)

This Netflix documentary series has spanned six seasons and crossed continents to investigate the trajectories and creative processes of some of the most famous contemporary chefs.

In addition to following their challenges and worldviews, we also have the chance to get to know the culture and cuisine of different places, such as the Baegyangsa temple in South Korea and the friendly city of San Francisco.

When it comes to TV Shows and movies about design and creativity, we are experts! Our team has tips for binge-watching all year, right? So if you want to keep getting inspired, follow us on Instagram, Facebook and Linkedin too!