12 Design Films Worth Watching
Design surrounds us on every side — yet we rarely think of it as a process. We see the result: a logo, a typeface, packaging, a city. But behind every decision is a person who chose. Design films offer a rare chance to see exactly how that choice is made — and why it matters.
This list isn’t about “pretty versus ugly.” It’s about thinking. About how designers look at the world — and why that perspective is useful to everyone who draws, sketches, or simply wants to see form more accurately.
1. Helvetica (2007)
Gary Hustwit made a documentary film about one typeface — and it says it all. About modernism, about corporate culture, about why some designers hate Helvetica for its “lack of character,” while others consider it perfect precisely because of that. Watching it teaches you to see typography everywhere — on signs, in the subway, in advertising. After this film, you’ll never again walk past a wall typeface indifferently.
2. Objectified (2009)
That same Hustwit, now focused on industrial design. Jonathan Ive from Apple, Dieter Rams, IDEO — and the question: why do things look the way they do? Why is one pen comfortable and another not? The film makes you look at objects differently. For anyone who sketches objects in a sketchbook, it’s especially valuable: you start to see the constructive solution in the form, not just a “beautiful cup.”
3. Urbanized (2011)
The third film in Hustwit’s trilogy — about city design. How are streets, neighborhoods, parks planned? What happens when design is good — and what happens when it’s absent? The film shows cities around the world and raises the question of who’s responsible — architects, officials, or residents. After watching, walking around the city becomes far more interesting.
5. The September Issue (2009)
A documentary about the making of Vogue’s September issue — the biggest issue of the year. Anna Wintour, Grace Coddington, and their battle for every single page. It’s about what the editorial process looks like in design: countless revisions, intuitive decisions, strong personalities. If you’re interested in fashion as a visual language — this is a must.
6. Design Is One: Lella and Massimo Vignelli (2012)
Massimo Vignelli is one of the most influential designers of the 20th century. The map of the New York City subway, the corporate identity for American Airlines, the brand identity of Bloomingdale’s. The film shows them at work — at home, in the studio, in conversation.
Vignelli said: “If you can’t find it in nature or you can’t express it mathematically — it’s not design, it’s decoration.”
A complex idea worth arguing about.
7. Steve Jobs (2015)
Aaron Sorkin wrote the script like a three-act play — each act before a major presentation. Jobs isn’t a designer in the strict sense, but he thought in design: form and function are inseparable, and compromising between them is a defeat. Michael Fassbender plays a man who was right too often to be comfortable. A film about the price of vision.
8. Gary Hustwit: Rams (2018)
A documentary by Hustwit about Dieter Rams — the legendary Braun designer, author of 10 principles of good design.
“Good design is invisible.” “Good design is honest.” “Good design is long-lasting.”
Rams is now grieving that he’s made too many things. A very calm, very deep film about minimalism in every sense.
9. Art & Copy (2009)
A documentary about legendary ad people and designers — the ones who came up with “Just Do It,” “Think Different,” “Got Milk?” Dan Wieden, Lee Clow, George Lois. A film about how an idea turns into an image — and why the simplest solutions are the hardest to find. Useful for anyone involved in visual communication.
10. The First Monday in May (2016)
A documentary about the preparation for the China: Through the Looking Glass exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum — and, at the same time, about the Met Gala ball. Andre Leon Talley, Anna Wintour, Chinese design and fashion as art. It’s about how exhibition space itself is design — and how fashion can be a serious cultural text.
10. Print the Legend (2014)
A Netflix documentary about the beginning of the 3D printing era — the MakerBot and Formlabs startups. The technology that promised to change design and manufacturing. The film is less about design and more about business and human ambition — but that’s exactly why it’s interesting: it shows what happens at the intersection of ideas and implementation.
11. The Pixar Story (2007)
A documentary about how Pixar built a studio where technology and art are equals. John Lasseter, Steve Jobs, Ed Catmull — and the question: how do you give artists freedom and, at the same time, make something that millions will watch? For designers and artists, there’s an important lesson here: creativity needs structure, but structure shouldn’t kill creativity.
12. Abstract: The Art of Design (series, Netflix, 2017–2019)
Each episode is its own personality: Tinker Hatfield (Nike sneakers), Christoph Niemann (illustration), Paula Scher (type), Ralph Gilles (automotive design), Bjarke Ingels (architecture), and others. The series shows that design isn’t decoration on top of function, but a way of thinking that comes before any drawing. We especially recommend the episode about Christoph Niemann — he literally sketches on live TV and explains what’s going on in his head.
Watch and draw
Each of these films is a reason to open a sketchbook. A pause on an interesting frame, 5 minutes to draw an object or a spatial solution that caught your attention. Design is a way of seeing, and sketching is a way to check whether you really see what you think you see.