Content and form working as one

Cover of the DVD of "Objectified" by Gary Hustwit

The documentary "Objectified" by Gary Hustwit brings up many situations in which content and form work together. When we think about content and form, its is usually the form that determines the content, but what happens when it is the other way around?

taken from "The Glorious Toothpcik" on the Journal of the American Enterprise Institute

In the film, they bring up the discussion of the toothpick, and everyday recognizable object for most people in our society. One man brings up the fact that many do not know the Japanese toothpick has a decoration on the end, perhaps to serve as decoration, but can also be broken off to show that it has been used. Furthermore, the tiny bit that is broken off can also be used a stand. This makes me think how the form of an object can change when you better understand the content. If you do not know that you should break of the end, you do not understand the full meaning behind the design, and therefore you do not use its form to its full potential. Such a simple object can be enormously misunderstood, and the design of the toothpick greatly underestimated. Now we might be wondering what else we are we using everyday, and yet not using at all? And perhaps a better question might be how do we avoid this under-usage of design? Do we need to have instruction manuals for toothpicks? Or can the design somehow better speak to its audience about its form and content and how they work together? Design is all about its relation to society, and when a society does not understand the content, how can they fully understand the form? Maybe we should ask design to speak more clearly, or is it those little unknown facts that make design interesting, since this means there might be infinite ways in which we can "newly" use the tools we already posses.