Dieter Rams is a German industrial designer closely associated with the consumer products
company Braun and the Functionalist school of industrial design.
Life and career Rams began studies in architecture and interior
decoration at Wiesbaden School of Art in 1947. Soon after in 1948, he took a break from studying
to gain practical experience and conclude his carpentry apprenticeship. He resumed studies
at Wiesbaden School of Art in 1948 and graduated with honours in 1953 after which he began
working for Frankfurt based architect Otto Apel. In 1955, he was recruited to Braun as
an architect and an interior designer. In addition, in 1961, he became the Chief Design
Officer at Braun until 1995. Dieter Rams was strongly influenced by the
presence of his grandfather, a carpenter. Rams once explained his design approach in
the phrase "Weniger, aber besser" which translates as "Less, but better". Rams and his staff
designed many memorable products for Braun including the famous SK-4 record player and
the high-quality 'D'-series of 35 mm film slide projectors. He is also known for designing
a furniture collection for Vitsœ in the 1960s including the 606 Universal Shelving System
and 620 Chair Programme. By producing electronic gadgets that were
remarkable in their austere aesthetic and user friendliness, Rams made Braun a household
name in the 1950s. In 2010, to mark his contribution to the world
of design, he was awarded the 'Kölner Klopfer' prize by the students of the Cologne International
School of Design and in 2009 awarded the great design prize in Australia. In addition, as
successor to the Bauhaus, Rams eventually became a protégé of the Ulm School of Design
in Ulm, Germany. Dieter Rams: ten principles for good design
Rams introduced the idea of sustainable development and of obsolescence being a crime in design
in the 1970s. Accordingly he asked himself the question: is my design good design? The
answer formed his now celebrated ten principles. Good design:
Is innovative - The possibilities for progression are not, by any means, exhausted. Technological
development is always offering new opportunities for original designs. But imaginative design
always develops in tandem with improving technology, and can never be an end in itself.
Makes a product useful - A product is bought to be used. It has to satisfy not only functional,
but also psychological and aesthetic criteria. Good design emphasizes the usefulness of a
product whilst disregarding anything that could detract from it.
Is aesthetic - The aesthetic quality of a product is integral to its usefulness because
products are used every day and have an effect on people and their well-being. Only well-executed
objects can be beautiful. Makes a product understandable - It clarifies
the product’s structure. Better still, it can make the product clearly express its function
by making use of the user's intuition. At best, it is self-explanatory.
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,
to leave room for the user's self-expression. Is honest - It does not make a product appear
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. Unlike
fashionable design, it lasts many years – even in today's throwaway society.
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 minimizes 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. Back to purity, back to simplicity.
Notable awards and accomplishments Dieter Rams has been involved in design for
seven decades. This is a list of notable awards and accomplishments.
1960 Receives ‘Kulturkreis im Bundesverband der Deutschen Industrie’ Scholarship Award
1961 TP1 Portable record player and radio receives ‘Supreme Award’ at Interplas
exhibition, London 1963 F21 receives ‘Supreme Award’ at Interplas
exhibition, London 1968 Awarded ‘Honorary Royal Designer for
Industry’ of the Royal Society of Arts, UK for ‘distinguished design in furniture
and light engineering products’ 1969 620 Chair awarded ‘Gold Medal’ at
the International Furniture Exhibition in Vienna
1978 Awarded ‘SIAD Medal of the Society of Industrial Artists and Designers’, UK
1985 Awarded ‘Académico de Honor Extranjero’ by the Academia Mexicana de Diseño, Mexico
1989 First recipient of the ‘Industrie Forum Design Hannover’, Germany, for special contribution
to design 1989 Awarded ‘Doctor honoris causa’ by
Royal College of Arts, London, UK 1992 Receives IKEA prize and uses prize money
for his own ‘Dieter and Ingeborg Rams Foundation’ for the promotion of design
1996 Receives ‘World Design Medal’ from the Industrial Designers Society of America
2002 Awarded ‘Verdienstkreuz des Verdienstordens der Bundesrepublik Deutschland
2003 Receives ‘Design Award ONDI’, Havana, Cuba for his special contribution to industrial
design and world culture 2007 Awarded Design Prize of the Federal republic
of Germany for his life’s work 2007 Receives Lucky Strike Designer Award
from the Raymond Loewy Foundation 2013 Awarded Lifetime Achievement Medal at
London Design Festival 2013 Less and More exhibition
Less and More is an exhibition of Rams' landmark designs for Braun and Vitsœ. It first traveled
to Japan in 2008 and 2009, appearing at the Suntory Museum in Osaka and the Fuchu Art
Museum in Tokyo. Between November 2009 and March 2010 it appeared at the Design Museum
in London. It appeared at the Museum für Angewandte Kunst in Frankfurt from July to
September 2010. The exhibit then appeared at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
from August 2011 to February 2012. Legacy
The appearance of the calculator application included in iOS 3 mimics the appearance of
the 1987 Braun ET 66 calculator designed by Rams and Dietrich Lubs, and the appearance
of the now playing screen in Apple's own Podcast app used to mimic the appearance of the Braun
TG 60 reel-to-reel tape recorder, before a later redesign of the app removed it. The
iOS 7 world clock app closely mirrors Braun clock design down to the font and layout used.
In Gary Hustwit's 2009 documentary film Objectified, Rams states that Apple Inc. is one of the
few companies designing products according to his principles.
Examples of Rams' works
References
Further reading Klemp, Klaus and Ueki-Polet, Keiko. Less and
More: The Design Ethos of Dieter Rams. Die Gestalten Verlag. ISBN 978-3-89955-397-0
Lovell, Sophie. As Little Design As Possible: The Work of Dieter Rams. London: Phaidon.
ISBN 978-0-7148-4918-8 External links
London's Design Museum page on Dieter Rams Designboom page on Dieter Rams
Icon magazine interview with Dieter Rams A later Icon interview
Vitsœ on Dieter Rams