The AW Guide to Staying In/spired: movies + more

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Hello from the sofa. Now that the Tiger King Docuseries is over, The Architect’s Wife brings you a curated mid-week pick-me-up of movies, documentaries, classes, and more. The compiled list below features some timeless classics and hopefully some gems you have yet to see. There are even some stories sprinkled throughout from folks within our community! Many options are free and for a few bucks rental option are aplenty (it’ll be worth your while – promise). We hope you’ll join us on our mission to stay in/spired – even if it’s from the couch. Let us know what you’d like to see from us next week by joining the conversation here.

SIGN PAINTERS

Featuring interviews with more than two dozen artists from across the United States, “Sign Painters” is the first film to explore the history of the time-honored craft of sign painting. Documenting these dedicated practitioners, their methods, and their appreciation for quality and craftsmanship, the film profiles sign painters young and old, revealing the growing renaissance in the trade.

KELLY WEARSTLER TEACHES INTERIOR DESIGN

Eclectic and experiential, Kelly Wearstler’s style helped redefine modern American design and influenced the rise of designer hotels. Now the award-winning designer takes you behind the scenes to demystify interior design. Make any space feel larger, and choose colors, materials, and textures with confidence. Curate collections of art and objects, cultivate your own distinct style, and create spaces that tell a story.

DESIGN CANADA

Design Canada is the first documentary chronicling the history of Canadian graphic design and how it shaped a nation and its people. What defines a national identity, is it an anthem? A flag? Is it a logo or icon? How do these elements shape who we are? In the 60s and 70s, these questions were answered by an innovative group of Canadian designers, who used design to unify the nation.

JIMMY CHIN TEACHES ADVENTURE PHOTOGRAPHY

Jimmy Chin has built his career taking photos at the top of the world, earning him the cover of National Geographic and multiple awards. Now he’s taking you on location to teach you techniques for capturing breathtaking shots. In his photography class, learn different creative approaches for commercial shoots, editorial spreads, and passion projects. Gather the gear—and the perspective—to bring your photography to new heights.

ABSTRACT – THE ART OF DESIGN

Step inside the minds of the most innovative designers in a variety of disciplines and learn how design impacts every aspect of life. Starring: Olafur Eliasson, Neri Oxman, Ruth E. Carter

LOGO DESIGN WITH DRAPLIN: SECRETS OF SHAPE, TYPE & COLOR

Join more than 20,000 Skillshare students to learn logo design from Aaron Draplin! These smart, entertaining lessons are jam-packed with advice and Adobe Illustrator demos so you can refine your work with shapes, type, and color — and gain core design skills for every logo and branding project.

HELVETICA


Changing the world, one letter at a time… Helvetica is a feature-length independent film about typography, graphic design and global visual culture. It looks at the proliferation of one typeface (which will celebrate its 50th birthday in 2007) as part of a larger conversation about the way type affects our lives.

“Linotype: The Film” is a feature-length documentary centered around the Linotype type casting machine. Called the “Eighth Wonder of the World” by Thomas Edison, it revolutionized printing and society. The film tells the charming and emotional story of the people connected to the Linotype and how it impacted the world.

CHARGED – THE EDUARDO GARCIA STORY

Charged is a feature length documentary film. In 2011, Chef Eduardo Garcia was shocked with 2400 volts of electricity in a freak incident deep in Montana’s backcountry. Near death, alone and miles from help, Eduardo got up and took his first step towards what would ultimately be years of recovery and rehabilitation.

WHY MAN CREATES 

Why Man Creates focuses on the creative process and the different approaches taken to that process. It is divided into eight sections: The Edifice, Fooling Around, The Process, Judgment, A Parable, Digression, The Search, and The Mark. In 2002, this film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant”.

GRAPHIC MEANS

It’s been roughly 30 years since the desktop computer revolutionized the way the graphic design industry works. For decades before that, it was the hands of industrious workers, and various ingenious machines and tools that brought type and image together on meticulously prepared paste-up boards, before they were sent to the printer. Graphic Means, explores graphic design production of the 1950s through the 1990s—from linecaster to photocomposition, and from paste-up to PDF.

Productivity Habits That Stick: Using Time Theming 

Join Productivityist founder Mike Vardy as he shares how creating a simple, flexible, durable productivity system will transform the way you work. Whether you’re a freelancer balancing multiple gigs or a 9-5er with a calendar full of meetings, this class will give you the tools you need to create helpful habits for work and home that will actually stick. You’ll learn to:

  • Time-theme your days to work more efficiently
  • Create daily routines to simplify your workflow
  • Utilize tools like Todoist to support your daily goals

After taking this class, you’ll have an arsenal of strategies to personalize your productivity and ensure you’re getting the right things done, freeing time and energy so you can focus on the things that matter.

The Science of Well-Being – Offered by Yale 

In this course you will engage in a series of challenges designed to increase your own happiness and build more productive habits. As preparation for these tasks, Professor Laurie Santos reveals misconceptions about happiness, annoying features of the mind that lead us to think the way we do, and the research that can help us change. You will ultimately be prepared to successfully incorporate a specific wellness activity into your life.

Share your favorites with AW below!