Dieter rams. 10 design principles.
good design is as little design as possible
Dieter Rams (born May 20, 1932 in Wiesbaden) is a German industrial designer closely associated with the consumer products company Braun and the Functionalist school of industrial design.
In 1993 I asked Dieter to speak to the Architecture & Design Society at the Art Institute of Chicago. The society recently had a name change: “design” had been added. We joked ( ahem ) at the time that the real estate economy was so bad that the Architecture Society needed new members. We needed a credible and passionate design icon to speak to this group. Dieter became the first designer to speak under the society’s new name.
What I remember that night and again recently while watching the Objectified movie was Dieter’s 10 design principles. Honestly, I can’t tell you for sure that these are the same principles. Hoping Dieter will set the story straight.
I think I like the earlier stuff better. Maybe it was the materials or maybe it was so different than the pack at the time. The first Braun product I remember making a design connect to me was an electric razor. Much of Dieter’s work has long seemed more connected to brutalism than minimalism. Let’s say beautifully, brutally, minimal.
* 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









resources:
vitsoe
designmuseum
gizmodo
victoria and albert museum
dieter rams flickr
braun flickr
37 signals
tendesignprinciples
new: a bit late




15 comments ↓
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by DesignApplause, Catalin David. Catalin David said: RT good design is as little design as possible http://bit.ly/1pu1F9 via @DesignApplause [...]
Social comments and analytics for this post…
This post was mentioned on Twitter by DesignApplause: Dieter rams. 10 design principles.: good design is as little design as possible http://bit.ly/1pu1F9...
Excellent.
Also, your Social Comments & Analytics links use horizontal ellipses which break the links. See above. Thought you should know.
[...] Rams’ 10 design principles. Follow them and you, too, can make spare white [...]
[...] was recently reminded of these. It’s good to always keep them in [...]
i found another dieter rams story you might enjoy. you will find the link below the photos under “resources” labeled “new: a bit late”
[...] funny, true and correct. And because it reinforces what I've thought for a long time and what Dietar Rams said once, "Good design is as little design as [...]
nice post. thanks.
Good design is Aesthetic?
That must be a translation error. Aesthetic is an adjective.
[...] Dieter Rams and his work at Braun. Design Applause blog has a nice collection of the man’s work here. And a side by side comparision from Gizmodo of the work Rams did in the 60s and what Apple is [...]
http://gongfu.com.ua – Visit us or die =)
[...] I love this. [...]
rams work inspires. thanks for this post.
Dieter Rams and his work at Braun. Design Applause blog has a nice collection of the man’s work here. And a side by side comparision from Gizmodo of the work Rams did in the 60s and what Apple is
[...] can read the full blog post here.In short, the 10 principles are: · Good design is innovative · Good design makes a product useful [...]
Leave a Comment
Alas, yes we moderate comments. Please proceed to add value.