One of coolest yet oddest documentaries I’ve seen in my life is Gary Hustwit’s Helvetica. An entire film on a font. And we’re not talking a Discovery Channel special either. Hustwit’s documentary was one of the best I saw in 2007, partly because in and of itself, the story of a font was interesting but there was also something very cinematic about the way Hustwit captured the usage and importance of font – even if you never realize it. I think it’s fair to say that the film was a bit of a surprise hit though when once considers the number of people working with fonts and in print on a day to day basis, there was a good built in audience to begin with (I attended a sold out screening to which they had to add a second showing to cram everyone in).

Now it looks like Hustwit is moving into sharing another one of his personal interests. According to news at In Design, Hustwit’s new documentary is titled Objectified and will focus on industrial design. The film will include interviews with everyone from Jonathan Ive of Apple and Dieter Rams (you can place “blame” of Apple’s sleek designs on these two) to Hella Jongerius and writer Alice Rawsthorn, who share stories behind the manufactured objects of everyday life and comment on issues of consumerism, sustainability, and identity.

Again, Hustwit has a fairly large built in audience but as with his first project, Objectified is likely to catch the attention of a few general enthusiasts. Personally, I’ll be eagerly awaiting the announcement of a local screening.