SD Film Series returns with this MCM blockbuster

In an era when branding corporate America was not yet a thing, architect Eliot Noyes became a pioneer in curating the corporate image, or what he preferred to call “corporate character.” An enormously influential figure, Noyes brought a modernist approach to companies like IBM and Mobil, paving the way for Apple and 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 status quo. Noyes (1910–1977) was the grand master of “good design,” or what is known as Midcentury Modern. From 1939–1946, Noyes was director of industrial design at MoMA. Years later, he opened his own design consultancy in Connecticut that served major American corporations, notably IBM, Westinghouse, Mobil, and Cummins, where he introduced the revolutionary practice of design and aesthetic consistency in everything from architecture and products to graphics and identity, hiring consultant practitioners including Paul Rand and Charles and Ray Eames.

Jason Cohn is the Peabody Award–winning director of The Architect and the Painter, a film about the Eames duo.  

The SD Design Film Series showcases feature-length and short documentary films exploring architecture, design, modernism, and urban planning. The series highlights the best in design films from around the world with advance screenings of the most discussed documentaries in the industry.

April 18. Tickets on sale through sdarchitecture.org
5:30pm Reception; 6:30pm Screening
Seaport Village, 849 W. Harbor Drive, San Diego, CA