Netflix launches new documentary series Abstract: The Art of Design with a stellar lineup

Netflix will premier a new original documentary series, Abstract: The Art of Design, that introduces the work and creative process of eight leading designers. The series is produced by Wired’s editor-in-chief Scott Dadich, Morgan Neville and Dave O’Connor. Each programme will focus on a different individual, the subjects are: Bjarke Ingels (architect), Christoph Niemann (illustrator), Es Devlin (stage designer), Ilse Crawford (interior designer), Paula Scher (graphic designer), Platon (photographer), Ralph Gilles (automobile designer) and Tinker Hatfield (Nike shoe designer).

Writing in Wired, Dadich said: “I can guess what you’re thinking, because I have watched a lot of design documentaries. Restrained, polished, pretty—so many of them look like a moving version of a coffee table book. You’ve got softly lit interviews, esoteric conversations, and subtle tracking shots of wide landscapes beneath unobtrusive music. Most of it is clean, minimal, and boring as hell. We’re not doing that. My partners and fellow executive producers—Morgan Neville (who won an Oscar for 20 Feet From Stardom) and RadicalMedia’s Dave O’Connor—and I built a team of today’s best-known documentarians. Every episode stands as its own film, adapting the design sensibilities of our subjects.”

Abstract: The Art of Design will screen its first episode on 21 January at the Sundance Film Festival, before premiering on Netflix February 10.