Designed in the USSR | Video Essay

Exploring the Soviet approach to commercial product design.
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Music (via Epidemic Sound):
"Blue Lantern," Yi Nantiro
"Dolphins," Farrell Wooten
"Dismantle", Peter Sandberg
Other Music
Enough Cereals - Foresight chll.to/ff95e837
Sources/References:
www.phaidon.co...
uniteditions.c...
www.scirp.org/...
www.jstor.org/...
cdn4.booksdl.o...
Mind Theater is a series of video essays on the arts, film, tv, and media, revealing what makes them so compelling.
#sovietunion #design #ussr

[@arshaghazie]

Soviet design always feel retrofuturistic to me

[@OtherlingQueen]

compared to ours, it really was.

[@daseapickleofjustice7231]

It was but this era was also the era of the pivot to the west. Could have achieved more greatness if it wasnt for the incompetence of the later half of the CCCP.

[@Preda.Y]

they did it on purpose. It was all in service of showing the USSR as the nation of the future

[@kyle_mk17]

​@@daseapickleofjustice7231what about Stalin buddy?

[@daseapickleofjustice7231]

@@kyle_mk17 "buddy" 🤣

[@aaronmarko]

Look, man. I get that you think the Soviet Union was great but if it kicked so much ass why didn't they come up with the Playstation 5

[@xibalbalon8668]

Wonder what an 8bit console by them would look like

[@soupslicer136]

​@@xibalbalon8668 i mean they did tetris for gameboy but yea

[@daseapickleofjustice7231]

I love this parody argument. Westerners today will say they hate degeneracy but also claim to consume and choose any and all options is a blessing. Meanwhile their consumption is this degenerate need for pleasure and sin and their choices are 1 million bad choices instead of 100 good ones. Sorry not sorry for rambling. Love my Soviet people and our Soviet past and future 🚩

[@xibalbalon8668]

@@soupslicer136 I mean a console, like Japan's Famicom to the USA's NES

[@Pattern51lover]

They did have the Nintendo copy called the Dindy, but they only sold boring educational games or nothing with a protagonist or a hero. It was nothing to write home about.

[@TheLaXandro]

An interesting example of the celebration of progress is how synth music was treated in USSR. While in the west it was first seen as somewhat rebellous and took a while to become mainstream, in the Union the sounds of the future were embraced soon after they were introduced to the country.

[@aby110]

The channel "Funked Up East" has some incredible synth, funk, jazz and soul from the USSR

[@rfl8359]

Love the way you've written this! It meets & beats the mark for being both informative and poetic - a delightful watch thanks :)

[@mindtheater]

aww thank you!

[@laiag4854]

I always felt like soviet design made me think of an alternative retro universe, it's weird but fascinating. Now I know a bit more of why that is. Nice video!

[@mindtheater]

thank you!

[@user-lz1yb6qk3f]

For us in Russia american design of the past does the same.

[@daseapickleofjustice7231]

This is because the Soviet Union was at the time already ahead of the west as a civilisation but when corrupt bureocrats consolidated power after the Korea war we pivoted to the west. It was like if a country from the year 2100 would start taking inspiration from our products.

[@chi-ku5281]

Here because I saw your video in a Yugopnik stream! Really love your vid. I'm not one for art or design but Soviet design is something else.

[@KC-lq5gu]

This is the first of your videos I’ve seen and it’s phenomenal. Soviet art is so interesting and I’d happily watch a whole series on it. The cars particularly, such as the Lada, are fascinating. As a small criticism I’d say maybe balance the audio a bit more, some parts are a bit louder. (<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="74">1:14</a> for example). You could also split up the narration, it’s very well written but could maybe use chapters or pauses that could be used for background music and visuals. Still an excellent video, I hope your channel finds the success it deserves.

[@mindtheater]

glad you liked it! Ty for the criticisms as well!

[@condakilla]

Very pleasing editing style and great voice, not to mention the great research, love your vids!

[@mindtheater]

thank you!

[@8thguy633]

This video was so well made! You deserve way more viewers!!

[@mindtheater]

thank you so much!

[@gerferies]

Those feel so familiar! A haven't lived in the Union, but I live in Russia. Most of these designs you can still see in some apartments, cars are on the roads... posters are gone, but they are somewhere deep inside, always remembered.

[@thatpandaz6094]

Criminally underrated channel

[@Preda.Y]

your writing is a bit fawning and you speak through a lens of nostalgia for a world you didn't experience (many of these products weren't that high quality) but I love to see more people appreciating the unique design philosophy and aesthetics of the soviet union. It's a refreshing contrast to modernity

[@Latinmarxist]

Hey buddy, have you ever heard of planned obsolenescence? Modern capitalist and profit driven economies are built on producing low quality goods that break easily and are created en masse

[@naberville3305]

My guy we live in a world of plastic pre-planned obsolescence. You definitely wouldn't find me complaining if I had to use a Soviet hairdryer that would stay in the family for decades to come.

[@ghostraider1169]

Wow dude, i love your narration

[@mindtheater]

thank you!

[@Xottapchenko]

Russian here (and not like American “Irish”, a real damn Russian from a Russo-Ukrainian family). Two biggest problems with the Soviet design (except architecture): - copycatting or literal production copying from electronics to cars (yes, Zhiguli and Pobeda are technically Italian and German inside). And what are you gonna do, sue the communists for taking your design and slightly changing it? - Social realism and its consequences and ways of escaping from it. Yes, scientific and cultural plots in mosaics, posters and sculptures are superb, magical, eye catching. But it the world of film, theatre, art they were so strict up until Stalin’s death and even till Malenkov’s stepping off artists had to flee to other countries OR try and find a way to express themselves without using “the only official way of portraying Soviet state”. That’s why a lot of future soc-art and mid-century avant-garde artists used to make posters for movies, covers for kids’ books or went to cartoons (another reason why Eastern European cartoons seem so strange and different from western animation) - they simply tried to escape from the all-seeing eye of Soviet regime.

[@Scorchluck]

Поправлю тебя: не "русский", а "русский либерал, который как попка повторяет ерунду из 80-х"

[@sasho_b.]

Bulgarian here. Shut th f up. The world is gonna burn to a crisp, yet here you are. Bickering about the stolen patents, a thing that to this day denies 3rd world countries from making their own medicine (patent the medicine making process, then change it every year by 1% and voila, infinite money) or about how "too much soviet regime". Liberal. George Lucas has that one clip i always remember: "I know a lot of russian film makers, they have a lot more freedom than i have". Да живее Сталин. Маната ти.

[@ghosttornado]

​@@sasho_b.That's funny because you are from a 3rd world country

[@noahdigit430]

I wonder what kind of videogames would have come out if the Soviet Union if it lasted in the 90s.

[@Wh1t3_st4r]

Amazing video, superwell made and put together!! Super interesting too , love it :]]

[@mindtheater]

thank you so much!

[@yoobinator]

Your love for people-oriented design shines through. Ah, this is such a wonderful video! I don’t remember when I last subscribed to a channel so quickly and happily.

[@isaacarmstrong9343]

Despite my hesitancy towards state powered socialism, I can always appreciate some of the good that our Russian comrades have done

[@0candlestick0]

Ah are you an anarchist?

[@ghosttornado]

​@@0candlestick0they're probably just a normal person

[@KozelPraiseGOELRO]

Darn it boe! Comrade or not, you are such a good dude for taking your time to explore this.

[@lonewaffle231]

You are so underrated its a crime. Keep it up you will pop out one moment, as long as the quality is good success is bound to happen.

[@richiemdk5270]

love the style, perfect really (this is exactly what i look for on youtube)

[@joaopaixao5499]

Great video!! I love Soviet design aswell, and that's one of the reasons I bought a Zenit 11

[@ddzwiedziu]

Cool essay. I see that on your chanel I can find more of this rabbit hole.

[@euansbrownswirl9824]

An amazing video! Keep it up

[@yiftahbt]

Top notch editing. I want to learn from you so hard

[@pr1ncessbutters]

Man, this video was made for me.

[@Josukegaming]

Wow I've never seen soviet design covered like this before, it's fascinating to my Western brain. I think it's important to not idolize the government, but similar to other art forms you can appreciate it on it's own

[@new9039]

good vid. enjoyed it through and through

[@odealo69]

I love the consumer culture of the USSR. Older people who were born and raised in that era still use reusable bags and the net ones that have been out of fashion for ages and it's hilarious to see them back on the west. By the way, in Russia we reuse vinyl plastic bags like 5+ times until they are completely wrinkled, stretched or torn. Although people reuse just to save money, and if you feel like you can afford it, you can throw it away every time, I really hope we can keep this habit. I'm also really nostalgic for the proper tableware in fast food restaurants and coffee shops, it feels like a much better experience and I can thankfully afford to stay for 10 minutes to drink my tea and munch on a pastry.

[@_Leninade]

Videos about the Soviet Union's design and history always make me a bit melancholic. I guess it's a shame that things turned out the way they did. The Soviet Union wasn't perfect, but the quality of life just seems to have been so much better than what we're left with now. Anyway, this is a brilliant video!

[@noheroespublishing1907]

And different, just thinking about how the first Flying Aircraft Carriers were made, and used during World War Two, by the Soviet Union is insane; they just did things differently there, and were quite innovative while doing it.

[@_Leninade]

@@noheroespublishing1907 Flying aircraft carriers? I had no idea! I just googled this now and wow! And yeah. It goes to show how much better things can be if they're done because people need them to be done, and not to make profit.

[@noheroespublishing1907]

@@_Leninade The amount of unique, and unpursued, things from the USSR is crazy. They basically made Unbreakable Glass in the GDR and tried to market it to the West, nobody would buy it because it would have ruined sales with something that wouldn't break and be rebought over and over; this tech is now used for all smart phone screens. They improved and revolutionized Screw Driven Vehicles, which are some insane all-terrain vehicles. They basically invented the Ground Effect Vehicles to the point where they were synonymous with the USSR. Prototyped the Flying Tank. Invented the Modern Blood Bank System; before you had to directly donate blood from person to person. Invented Lazer Eye Surgery and LED Lights. Its genuinely insane how many things the Soviet Block invented, not to mention that Cuba has invented a vaccine for certain types of Lung Cancer.

[@_Leninade]

@@noheroespublishing1907 I'd known about the glass, but all the other stuff I had no idea about and is incredible! And yeah, Cuba's medical system in general is a testement to the necessity of socialism, that even under the embargo they can give higher quality care to more of their citizens, far more consistently, than almost any other nation.

[@noheroespublishing1907]

@@_Leninade They have more doctors per person than I think anywhere else on the planet, so much so they export their medical assistance around the world as policy.

[@adamcheklat7387]

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="164">2:44</a>: Khrushchev would’ve loved to hear that!

[@rageingmachine9627]

I have an old Soviet watch and I’m hesitant to replace it because not only is it still very much functional but I just love the look of it. It’s something that I’ve noticed with a lot of Soviet stuff, it works and is just appealing to the eye. Well my eye at least.

[@cabelodealgodao-doce1794]

i got hooked in this vídeo, its awesome

[@petrolandcoffee]

yes. my thoughts exactly

[@merlez98]

great work!!!!!!

[@tuganerf]

This video is 11/10

[@noheroespublishing1907]

This is one of the biggest reasons why I wish I could be a part of the creation of a "Union of Progressive Peoples" series; it's one of the least explored parts of the Alien Cinematic Universe, which is a speculated Soviet Block set in the future; so many artistic aspects that could be explored! ☭

[@borra69.]

Cool video

[@gabithefurry]

The fall of the USSR was not only a political, social and economic catastrophe, but a huge setback for the aesthetic world as well...

[@noheroespublishing1907]

It is a tragedy that we're still living through; the 20th Century isn't called the Soviet Century for nothing, the USSR basically motivated the creation of Social Democracy into existence, and with it's dissolution we are watching all the progress slowly and violently be cut away.

[@daseapickleofjustice7231]

The Soviet Unions aesthetic made zero progress post 1950s it pivoted to western retro design instead. Now China leads the way.

[@ghosttornado]

Me when i don't know what I'm talking about

[@daseapickleofjustice7231]

@@ghosttornado your profile pic is super ugly, your opinion is taken into consideration, not as a correct opnion but as proof of what the wrong opinion is.

[@leninvasco]

And now to think humanity is soon to end, we lost our chance of saving ourselves. At least we will not be condemned to an existance of slavery, for a few years and in some places today, some people were free.

[@ghosttornado]

You ok bro?

[@leninvasco]

@@ghosttornado no

[@Stret173]

блин... очень здорово....

[@katmannsson]

Bro I was already a Commie I didn't need this heart break 🥲 But for real, Great video Twelve outta ten

[@mindtheater]

thank you! glad u enjoyed!

[@abrilmendez-jara5077]

Thank you for this, I always feel like I’m alone in thinking that Soviet design was genius and fascinating

[@noheroespublishing1907]

I'm always struck by some of their unique engineering, like the Screw Driven Vehicles, the Soviet Flying Aircraft Carriers, and the prototypes of the Soviet Flying Tank and the Fire Hedgehog. Just plain different; crazy to think that the Soviet Union was the first to invent the Flying Aircraft Carrier and used it in the Second World War.

[@Blackgriffonphoenixg]

the video game "Atomic Heart" might be mediocre at best, but it really, *really* nailed Soviet design as well as taking it even further into a coherent retrofuturist design language.

[@beebo7071]

I just want a product I won’t need to buy again in five years

[@pavloshartas-moody8828]

The reason why many product designs were based off or adaptations of western ones was because unfortunately a free market spurs innovation almost as much as war does. Retro-futuristic mechanical anomalies as the ekranoplan, kharkovchanka, zil, project ekip all look like something from an alternate timeline. A different philosophy to what we see nowadays. Simple, robust, practical, almost elegant..

[@Mr.internet.Lag.]

Well, now I'm just depressed theres not more

[@kenon6968]

Got a sub out of me

[@mindtheater]

thank you!!

[@bobkerman7978]

If the USSR had not collapsed so suddenly, perhaps the factories producing these inventions (after redesigning them up to western standards) would have survived, and the people who made them would have probably made a Killer Fortune.

[@ghosttornado]

Unfortunately ussr quality wasn't great

[@fernandomaca2466]

I have an avos'ka bag at home and didn't know... In Brazil

[@Empyrean55]

Loved this video but slow down bro, it's not a race xD

[@arlwiss5110]

finally a westerner who gets the futurism

[@TheObso1337]

I like this video essay because there is room to recognize that the Soviet Communism was an abject failure as a form of government, but that simultaneously a precious baby did lurk in the bathwater. Soviet art and industrial design wasn't inferior to western per se, but it was created in a fundamentally different environment and in some ways can offer a lens for how some things could or even should be done today. These products were designed at a time when chronic shortages of consumer goods made sustainability, economy and functionality top priority, but still managed to convey an elegant sense of utilitarian style in their own right. While we aren't bound by such limitations in our advanced western economies today, it would still do us good to look back at the pragmatic approach taken by eastern designers of the past.

[@comicalcatastrophe1865]

Worst takeaway from this video:

[@daneaguilar-aasted5331]

I always felt that Russian products were expressions of Russian ideals compared to Americans. Something as mundane as a bottle cap became proof as to the soviets appreciation of the consumer instead of the capital.

[@misterpotato427]

Awesome watch. But the moans after EVERY SINGLE WORD is so off putting, im sorry.

[@etasjo]

your editing makes me angry

[@FaustsKanaal]

I mean other than the art deco inspired stuff, it mostly looks pretty shit to me.

[@comicalcatastrophe1865]

Incredible addition you should’ve had your own ten minute section in the video 🎉🎉 bravo

[@Pattern51lover]

I don’t mind your statement. I unlike some folks don’t need everyone to agree with me. Cheers 🍻

[@MrZauberelefant]

Sorry. while Soviet Design is interesting, and aesthetically unique, it was not the pinnacle of human achievement. Also, like other things, mostly the exceptional stuff gets remembered. And many of the post WW2 designs were acquisitioned from defeated Germany as means of compensation. Not unjustly, but not originally soviet either. It is good to remember, it deserves to be cherished, but we shouldn't fool ourselves into thinking about this in terms of superiority.

[@laiag4854]

I feel like you're being a bit unfair. He always talks with passion and admiration, no matter where the subject of the video comes from. Just because it's from the USSR doesn't make it any different. It's not about superiority, it's about appreciation and analysis just like all the other amazing videos he does.

[@FaustsKanaal]

The T-14 Armata is literally using a copied Tiger tank engine. From the 1940s. The T-90 uses the same engine as the T-34. So much for soviet creativity.

[@sebastiangorka200]

@@FaustsKanaal Why are you lying?

[@FaustsKanaal]

@@sebastiangorka200 Literally look up the specs

[@Neukend]

​@@FaustsKanaali can somewhat agree with the t90s engines being the "same" that t34 used, but good lord. The armata engine being of German design is a myth so well known for being so that i cannot comprehend how you truthfully believe in it. For proof, well, lets not reinvent the wheel. RedEffect (a chanell) has a fantastic video about the armata engine, with all the documentation from both the russians and germans. Just look it for yourself. He also has a video about the engines of t90/72 if you don't want to look like a complete idiot claiming them being the same engines from t34s.

[@icedteacatfish]

sounds like tankie bootlicking to me

[@thepizzaisaggressive1823]

peak criticism right here

[@Pattern51lover]

Yeah it did a bit, but I do like the retro futurism look that lasted for way longer then it did in the west. I like collecting artifacts from Soviet times, but I have zero interest in suffering through its existence.

[@gabrielkoewers9733]

❤

[@cabelodealgodao-doce1794]

Nice video