Worth a Gander: Web site for 'Objectified,' Gary Huswit's New Doc

Gary Huswit made a splash in 2007 with 'Helvetica,' a documentary that told the story of the world's most influential typeface. (It's airing on PBS this month.)

His new doc is 'Objectified,' about product design, and it'll premiere at SXSW this March.

The site is here. Hard to think of what else you'd want from the Web site for a film that has yet to be released: there's a trailer, a list of some of the better-known interviewees, a newsletter you can sign up for, a blog, and products you can buy. Most interesting option: for $500, you can become an "Objectifier." What do you get?

- An Objectified T-shirt
- An Objectified limited-edition silkscreen print by Build
- A “Helvetica” Blu-ray special edition by Experimental Jetset
- An invite for you and a guest to either the New York or London private sneak preview (whichever’s closer to you) of Objectified in early 2009, before the general public sees it
- A copy of the DVD of Objectified when it’s released
- Your name (or your company’s name if you prefer) will appear in the “thank you” section of the film’s credits
- More perks as we think them up

Also interesting that the first place Huswit released the movie's trailer to was Gizmodo, a site for techies and gadget hounds. That spawned dozens of comments, including, "Wow! That movie looks amazing. I had never heard of Helvetica before, I'm going to be checking it out."

A great way to tap into big audiences online that will likely be interested in the film...