Thursday night’s Culture Show featured an interview with Dieter Rams, a soft spoken German designer, whose ground breaking design decisions for Braun from the 60s onwards has led the Times to suggest he is “the man who shaped our world“.
Much was made in the interview and in the Times article of the parrallels between Rams’s design for radios and hi-fis and Apple’s design for the iPhone and iPod. Taken side by side there are a number of astonishing similarities, which Rams modestly suggested was more of a compliment than blatant design theft.
A retrospective exhibtion of Rams’s work, “Less and More – The Design Ethos of Dieter Rams”, is on show at the Design Museum (18 November – 07 March 2010).
Rams determined 10 principles for design, many of which can easily be applied to ceramic design and production. The ten points are listed below.
Good design…
..is innovative
The possibilities for innovation are not, by any means, exhausted. Technological development is always offering new opportunities for innovative design. But innovative design always develops in tandem with innovative technology, and can never be an end in itself.
..makes a product useful
A product is bought to be used. It has to satisfy certain criteria, not only functional, but also psychological and aesthetic.
..is aesthetic
The aesthetic quality of a product is integral to its usefulness because products we use every day affect our person and our well-being. But only well-executed objects can be beautiful.
..makes a product understandable
It clarifies the product’s structure.
..is unobtrusive
Products fulfilling a purpose are like tools. They are neither decorative objects nor works of art. Their design should therefore be both neutral and restrained.
..is honest
It does not make a product more innovative, powerful or valuable than it really is. It does not attempt to manipulate the consumer with promises that cannot be kept.
..is long-lasting
It avoids being fashionable and therefore never appears antiquated.
..is thorough, down to the last detail
Nothing must be arbitrary or left to chance. Care and accuracy in the design process show respect towards the consumer.
..is environmentally friendly
Design makes an important contribution to the preservation of the environment. It conserves resources and minimises physical and visual pollution throughout the lifecycle of the product.
..is as little design as possible
Less, but better – because it concentrates on the essential aspects, and the products are not burdened with non-essentials
Cylindric T 2 lighter, 1968, by Dieter Rams for Braun
Good design is honest
It does not make a product more innovative, powerful or valuable than it really is. It does not attempt to manipulate the consumer with promises that cannot be kept.
L 450 flat loudspeaker, TG 60 reel-to-reel tape recorder and TS 45 control unit, 1962-64, by Dieter Rams for Braun
Good design is long-lasting
It avoids being fashionable and therefore never appears antiquated. Unlike fashionable design, it lasts many years – even in today’s throwaway society.
620 Chair Programme, 1962, by Dieter Rams for Vitsœ
Things which are different in order simply to be different are seldom better, but that which is made to be better is almost always different.
Dieter Rams, 1993
My goal is to omit everything superfluous so that the essential is shown to best possible advantage.
Dieter Rams, 1980
Good design is thorough, down to the last detail
Nothing must be arbitrary or left to chance. Care and accuracy in the design process show respect towards the consumer.
ET 66 calculator, 1987, by Dietrich Lubs for Braun
Good design is environmentally-friendly
Design makes an important contribution to the preservation of the environment. It conserves resources and minimises physical and visual pollution throughout the lifecycle of the product.
606 Universal Shelving System, 1960, by Dieter Rams for Vitsœ
Good design is as little design as possible
Less, but better – because it concentrates on the essential aspects, and the products are not burdened with non-essentials.
Back to purity, back to simplicity.
L 2 speaker, 1958, by Dieter Rams for Braun
Copyright and usage
All photographs copyright Vitsœ unless otherwise stated
Vitsœ’s ethos
Back in 1959 Vitsœ’s proposition was to eschew fashion while creating products that would be the neutral canvas on which to paint your colourful life.
After half a century our resolve is stronger than ever: more of us must learn the art of living better with less that lasts longer.
Our shelving system
Designed by Dieter Rams in 1960, 606 Universal Shelving System was conceived to be timeless.
You can start small, add to it, rearrange it and take it with you when you move.
You can buy a single shelf or an entire library.
Ian Saunders - hand made pottery 