Television series
Abstract: The Art of Design
- Dip in and out
Abstract celebrates the obsessive problem-solvers behind the objects and spaces that shape our world. Each episode tunnels deep into one designer's practice—their thinking, their failures, their tiny moments of breakthrough. It's meditative and energizing at once: watching someone become fluent in their own vision. For anyone who's ever wondered how a chair gets designed, or why it matters.
Should you watch it?
Watch it if you enjoy watching people talk shop about their craft, the small decisions behind a chair or a logo, and like seeing how a designer's process turns into finished work.
Skip it if you want a fast, plot-driven watch or dislike documentaries that stay polite and observational, since each episode settles into a calm rhythm around one practitioner at a time.
What it asks of you: Roughly forty-five minutes an episode, unhurried and reflective, asking you to sit with studio footage and close-up detail rather than follow a story forward.
Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.
If you liked this
The Toys That Made Us2017
Explores how iconic products shaped culture and childhood, with the same reverent, close-up approach to design history. Nostalgic but also genuinely smart about the thinking behind the objects you grew up with.
But Focuses on branded consumer goods rather than design as pure creative practice. Some episodes feel more like extended commercials than investigations.
Jiro Dreams of Sushi2011
The definitive film about mastery and obsession. Follows an aging sushi chef pursuing perfection in his craft with the same patient, almost spiritual intensity Abstract brings to design. Visually gorgeous and deeply moving.
But Glacially paced. The entire film is about one man making sushi. If you need plot momentum, this will frustrate you.
Helvetica2007
A 80-minute meditation on a single typeface, featuring designers and thinkers obsessing over curves and spacing. Proves that 'boring' subjects become fascinating when you're watching someone genuinely care about them.
But It's literally about a font. If you can't get excited about typography, this is an ordeal, not a gift.
Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Abstract: The Art of Design
The wildcard
Something you would not have found on your own.
The Pruitt-Igoe Myth2012
Where Abstract shows design succeeding, this shows design failing—but with the same analytical rigor. It asks: what does a designer owe the people who have to live with their choices?
A brilliant essay-documentary about ambitious modernist housing that failed. It's design confronting reality: the gap between intention and outcome, between utopian vision and human needs. Gorgeously made and genuinely tragic.
But It's about urban decay and architectural failure. Not celebratory; it's an autopsy. Heavy, difficult subject matter treated with absolute seriousness.
More like this (6)
The Great British Bake Off2010
Similar DNA: watching craftspeople solve problems under mild pressure, with close attention to technique and small moments of creativity. Warm, unpretentious, and genuinely about the work, not drama.
But It's a competition show, so there's inevitable artificiality. And if you don't care about baking, the stakes feel invented.
Objectified2009
Covers industrial design with Abstract's same reverent curiosity—how a thermostat or a shopping cart becomes what it is. Humanizes the people making the decisions that surround us.
But Can feel dated now (2009 sensibilities about design). Less visually lush than Abstract's cinematography.
The Forty-Year-Old Version2020
A filmmaker making a feature in black and white as a creative statement—it's a meditation on artistic vision and the courage to trust your instincts over commercial pressure. Feels adjacent to Abstract's focus on artistic process.
But It's a comedy-drama about a struggling artist in NYC. The tone is scattered, and it's interested in narrative in ways Abstract isn't.
Minimalism: A Documentary About the Important Things2015
Explores design philosophy and how we live with objects. Has Abstract's contemplative pace and features some of the same thinkers. Makes you question what you surround yourself with.
But Gets preachy about lifestyle choices. Can feel like you're being sold a design aesthetic rather than learning about design itself.
The Defiant Ones2017
Documents two music producers at the height of their creative partnership. Captures the collaborative obsession and creative problem-solving that feels very much in Abstract's spirit, just in a different field.
But Heavily focused on hip-hop history and personalities. If you're not invested in the music or the people, the process alone may not hold you.
Werner Herzog Eats His Shoe1980
Both are about the artist as someone willing to go to extreme lengths for their work. Abstract shows design as invisible, essential labor; Herzog shows art as beautiful, useless commitment—the inverse philosophy, same devotion.
A filmmaker follows through on an absurd promise to document exactly what he said he would, treating it with complete commitment and philosophical weight. It's about artistic obsession as pure act—no commercial purpose, just vision. Bizarre and weirdly moving.
But It's 30 minutes of a man literally eating a shoe while discussing Escoffier and the nature of cinema. If you need narrative or conventional reward, you'll think it's pointless.
Recommended by
The Playbook, Beauty Is Embarrassing, Old Enough!, Death Stranding: Inside Kojima Productions, In Vogue: The Editor's Eye, GIMS: On the Record, Pollock, Song Exploder, Property Brothers, LEGO Masters, Making It, Glow Up: Britain's Next Make-Up Star, American Restoration, Windy City Rehab, Skin Wars, Helvetica, Objectified, The Andy Warhol Diaries, Your Personal Taxi, The World's Most Amazing Vacation Rentals, Craftopia, Tim's Vermeer, Design Is One, Dream Home Makeover, The New Yorker Presents, Inside Pixar, Work of Art: The Next Great Artist, Workplace, Wood Work, Connected, Bake Squad