This is the title of Dieter Rams’ exhibition at the Design Museum. Rams was in charged of the German consumer electronics manufacturer, Braun, for more than 40 years, developing a synthetic, rigorous and pure visual language for its products. In this exhibition can be appreciated how his principles of design were applied in and followed by his designs.
Below are explained the 10 design principles defined by Dieter Rams:
Good design is innovative.
Good design makes a product useful.
Good design is aesthetic.
Good design makes a product understandable.
Good design is unobtrusive.
Good design is honest.
Good design is long-lasting.
Good design is thorough down to the last detail.
Good design is environmentally friendly.
Good design is as little design as possible.
As a starting point of his designs, Rams applied a clear and well-defined structure (grid?) to organise the elements (information?) before moving on to the creation stage itself.
Design Museum. Dieter Rams' structure used in the creation of his designs to organise elements. (©Photos Sheila Pontis)
Rams’ objective was to create extremely functional objects where irrelevant information had no place. His designs are examples of simplicity and clarity. (see below). Rams also thought that sketching (analysing?) was an essential part of the design process. In addition, for Rams this stage of the process is independently of the media or technology, and cannot be done with computers. This stage is about taking the necessary time to carefully think about what to do, the characteristics and uses of the product/project.
Design Museum. Wall diagram of Dieter Rams' object. (© Photo Sheila Pontis)
Less and More. The Design Ethos of Dieter Rams. 18 November 2009 to 7 March 2010 – Design Museum London
Bridging Theory and Practice 