“things which are differnt in order to be differnt are seldom better, but that which is made to be better is almost always differnt” – Dieter Rams
Deiter Rams is associated more than anyone with the rational machine aesthetic which characterised German product design post-1945, he was chief designer for Braun from 1961 to 1995. The legacy of Rams’s rational minimalist style has influenced a generation of contemporary designers such as the English industrial designers Jasper Morrison and Jonathan Ive at Apple.
I met Deiter a couple of times in the 80s and 90s and still find it hard to fault his “ten comandments” for good design.
- 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 consiquent to the last detail
- good design is concerned with the enviroment
- good design is a little design as possible
