Design Ethos of Dieter Rams

As little design as possible

The comments made by Deyan Sudjic and Michael Czerwinski gives us much food for thought. It is interesting to see how Ram’s work remains timeless despite the product’s technology becoming obsolete, and that he stayed true to his aesthetic philosophy no matter what. Hat tip @designsojourn

Dieter Rams

These are a few of the quotes from Dieter Rams. For those of you unaware of his work, put it this way, Jonathan Ive (Head of Industrial Design at Apple) is often mistaken for his work. Which is a nice way of admiring the sensibility of Rams.

Good design is innovative.
Good design makes a product useful.
Good design is aesthetic.
Good design helps us to understand a product.
Good design is unobtrusive.
Good design is honest.
Good design is durable.
Good design is consequent to the last detail.
Good design is concerned with the environment.
Good design is as little design as possible.
Back to purity, back to simplicity.

As head of design at Braun, the German consumer electronics manufacturer, DIETER RAMS emerged as one of the most influential industrial designers of the late 20th century by defining an elegant, legible, yet rigorous visual language for its products.