Design Ah! Reminding Us to Look, Think, and Create

Design Ah! is a design TV show produced by Japan’s NHK. It’s an educational program targeted toward children to encourage them to look, think, and create in their everyday lives. The program is full of well-thought-out, aesthetically pleasing and minimalistic short clips that showcase various concepts in design. It is by far one of my favorite TV shows on design, because it does such a great job of exploring objects and activities we take for granted in our everyday lives and breaking them down to their fundamental units. The show really encourages the viewers to take a pause and simply observe their surroundings.

Everytime I watch it I’m reminded of how much I could learn by merely observing the world around me with critical – but non-judgemental – eyes. Even the most mundane things, like the different uses of light, can be very interesting when explored with an observant mind. I’d describe Design Ah! as a really good “brain warmer” to watch before you do anything creative, because it loosens your mind to so many interesting visual ideas you wouldn’t normally think of. I highly recommend checking it out!