The 2023 documentary "Modernism, Inc. The Eliot Noyes Design Story" is a fascinating look at one of the masters of midcentury design. Noyes' work for IBM was pioneering in its all-encompassing approach to include corporate identity, advertising, packaging, computer and typewriter hardware, communications, PR, exhibit design, and more. He set the stage for what later became known as "branding" and showed the way for companies like Apple and Nike.
I really enjoyed seeing all the historic footage of the many design giants of the time: Noyes, sure, but also Paul Rand and Charles & Ray Eames. Growing up, I was excited to see the IBM pavilion at the NY World's fair with its witty pre-show exhibits and multi-screen presentation inside "the egg." I saw Eames' "Mathematica" at the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry and later in LA Exposition Park. Both designs are featured in the film.
In the film Noyes' earnestness comes to the fore when he and his fellow senior designers are challenged by the next generation of politically, socially, and ecologically minded designers in the 1970s at his long-running Aspen Design conference.
If you're a fan of design, this gem of a film will make you THINK.
Previously: Exhibit of the futuristic New York City that never was
