Architect Eliot Noyes was one of the leading pioneers of modern design during the mid-century, post-war boom in the United States. Educated by Walter Gropius at Harvard, Noyes did more than anyone to align the Modernist design ethos to the needs of ascendant corporate America. His impact on companies like IBM and Mobil Oil paved the way for Apple and many of the other design-conscious brands we know today. Modernism, Inc. follows Noyes’ career up to a time when disruptive designers of the early ’70s began pushing back against the Modernist view of progress. As he did in Eames: The Architect and the Painter (co-directed with Bill Jersey), filmmaker Jason Cohn uses the story of a mid-century icon to raise contemporary questions about the role of a designer in today’s world. |
Jason Cohn will appear in person at both the New York and Los Angeles openings. |
“Well-researched, well-crafted and fascinating. Noyes created and forged some of the most respected, meaningful, and influential industrial design programs in the United States. The rise and attraction of modernism on the heels of the postwar economic boom birthed contemporary design and philosophy that continue to exist and flourish today, influencing mega businesses, including Apple. The idea of beauty with utility, which was generated from the Bauhaus art movement, continues to remain vital today, and for this, we thank Noyes.” -Sabina Dana Plassa, Film Threat “Noyes held the belief that design was not an afterthought, but rather something that needed to be infused into every aspect of a company’s thought process. The result helped IBM become the technical design juggernaut of the early personal computing era—and paved the way for companies like Apple to design products for the 21st century. Interviews with those who worked with him, as well as those in his family who knew him intimately, paint the picture of a man who was truly ahead of his time.”-Sara Harowitz, The Georgia Straight |
MODERNISM, INC. Directed by Jason Cohn 79 minutes | color | In English | 2023 |
CREDITS Jason Andrew Cohn Writer and Director Camille Servan-Schreiber Producer Kevin Jones and Jason Cohn Editors Steven Emerson Music Composer Sebastian Roché Narrator Talia Mindich Associate Producer Talia Mindich, Andrei Valladolid, Nina Goodby Assistant Editors © 2023 Bread & Butter Films |
Tag Archives: Mobil Oil
How Big Data Is Exactly What It Sounds Like
When Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg took to Capitol Hill to explain user data retention almost four years ago, he essentially sat in the hot seat on behalf of every entity that has ever collected and used personal information to craft better products. If that sounds like a massive catch-all, that’s because it is. However, Systems America, Inc. President Adesh Tyagi says it’s not as nefarious as it may sound. As the head of a global information technology services company, Tyagi knows that “Big Data” can be collected, applied and benefit the general public all at the same time.
Big data is exactly what it sounds like, says Tyagi, who has more than two decades of experience in this sector and whose company was previously awarded for being one of the fastest-growing in America.
It’s a compilation of information broken out by software that makes sense of the traits and behavior of service users. With a background that includes cloud computing and analytics plus Mobil Oil and McDonald-Douglas (now Boeing) among former clients, Tyagi says that any company can request an in-depth study of customer information to better design upcoming offerings.
This is sheer advertising at its core and it’s exactly what companies that work with Facebook do when they buy ad space on the social media platform. Do not confuse this with the fact that a third party was able to get its hands on 87 million Facebook accounts and use it as part of presidential election subterfuge. This occurrence is prolific on a global level, recently the Indian government expressed a sincere concern that third parties may have influenced the country’s elections. Similar concerns have been expressed by the Kenyan & Nigerian governments.
Tyagi says that this is inexcusable and a result of either over-confidence and laid-back oversight and provides an illustration of how technology can be used against the greater good of mankind.
Why big businesses buy into big data. They believe insight gleaned from big data analysis offers:
- Happier users and larger returns due to consistently in-tune goods and services.
- Learning more about which goods and services are going to use while others are ignored and why.
- Real numbers to pair with real-world efforts to show investors regarding current efforts.
“You basically employ different analytical tools to come up with the best services or tools for that particular customer,” says Tyagi. An example he points to as it pertains to data-driven solutions are financial products being deployed by a bank such as insurance programs or a new credit card. By retaining Systems America before launch, an enormous amount of information about members can be broken down by geography, income history, account balances and more. In his view, this is no different from a grocery store looking at what people are buying and deciding which products to purchase when restocking the shelves. For the Silo, Greg Adomaitis.