Online streaming services have plenty to offer design fans staying at home during the COVID-19 pandemic, including Netflix’s Emmy-nominated “Abstract: The Art of Design” series and a host of interior design reality shows. For free videos, filmmaker Gary Hustwit of “Objectified,” “Helvetica” and “Rams” fame has been streaming his documentaries on a weekly basis since March 14, while Interior Design Magazine has launched “DesignTV by Sandow” on Facebook, which features content from Interior Design and Luxe Interiors + Design, Metropolis and Galerie. Online magazine Dezeen also kicked off a Virtual Design Festival of exhibitions, interviews and performances, which runs until June 20.
Free overseas films on modern and contemporary Japanese design include KCET’s “Masters of Design: The Art of the Japanese,” which charts the influence of postwar Japanese design in the United States, Louisiana Channel’s interview with Kenya Hara and British GQ’s short of Oki Sato of Nendo and his playful designs.
For traditional Japanese crafts and their contemporary iterations, On: Design is taking a look at four Japanese channels that introduce some of the nation’s artisans through visually stunning shorts.