Dieter Rams

Dieter Rams (born 20 May 1932) is a German industrial designer and retired academic who is closely associated with the consumer products company Braun, the furniture company Vitsœ, and the functionalist school of industrial design. His unobtrusive approach and belief in "less, but better" (german: Weniger, aber besser) design generated a timeless quality in his products which has influenced the practice of design as a whole and secured Rams worldwide recognition and appreciation. He is quoted as stating that: "Indifference towards people and the reality in which they live is actually the one and only cardinal sin in design."

Life and career

Dieter Rams began his studies in architecture and interior decoration at Wiesbaden School of Art in 1947, now part of the RheinMain University of Applied Sciences. A year later, in 1948, he took a break from studying to gain practical experience and finish his carpentry apprenticeship. He returned to the Wiesbaden School of Art in 1948 and graduated in architecture with honours in 1953, after which he began working for Frankfurt-based architect Otto Apel. In 1955, he was recruited by Braun as an architect and an interior designer, and eventually became a protégé of and the Ulm School of Design professors Hans Gugelot and Otl Aicher, all of whom worked with Braun in various capacities. In 1961, Rams became the chief design officer at Braun, a position he retained 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 SK4 radiogram and the high-quality 'D'-series (D45, D46) of 35mm film slide projectors. The SK4, known as the "Snow White's coffin," is considered revolutionary because it transitioned household appliance design away from looking like traditional furniture.

By producing electronic gadgets that were remarkable in their austere aesthetic and user friendliness, Rams made Braun a household name in the 1950s.

In 1959, Rams began a collaboration with Vitsœ, at the time known as Vitsœ-Zapf, which led to the development of the 606 Universal Shelving System. He also designed furniture for Vitsœ in the 1960s, including the 620 chair collection. He has continued to work with Vitsœ throughout his career.

In 1968, Rams designed the cylindric T2 cigarette lighter for Braun. A member of the company's board had asked him for a design; Rams replied "only if we design our own technology to go inside them." Successive versions of the product went on to use then-current motorcycle-like magnetic ignition, followed by piezoelectric, and finally solar-powered mechanisms.

Rams worked with both Braun and Vitsœ until his retirement in 1997. His work with Vitsœ continued after his retirement.

His designs influenced Apple designer Jonathan Ive and many Apple products pay tribute to Rams' work for Braun, including Apple's iOS 6 calculator, which references the 1977 ET66 calculator, and prior to a redesign, the appearance of the playing screen in Apple's Podcast app mimicked the appearance of the Braun TG 60 reel-to-reel tape recorder. The iOS 7 world clock app closely mirrors Braun's clock and watch design, including the font and layout used. The original iPod closely resembles the Braun T3 transistor radio. In Gary Hustwit's 2009 documentary film ''Objectified'', Rams states that Apple is one of the few companies designing products according to his principles.

The designer Jasper Morrison has spoken of his grandfather's Rams designed Braun "Snow White's Coffin" being an "important influence on ischoice in becoming a designer."

In 2022, the Museum für Angewandte Kunst in Frankfurt updated and expanded its permanent display titled "Dieter Rams. A Style Room" to mark the designer's 90th birthday. The exhibit also includes photographs by his wife Ingeborg Rams.

"Good design" principles

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 a good design?" The answer he formed became the basis for his celebrated ten principles. According to him, "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. Simple as possible but not simpler. Good design elevates the essential functions of a product.

Awards and recognition

Rams has been involved in design for seven decades and has received many honorary appellations throughout his career.

Awards and honours

* 1960: Received Kulturkreis im Bundesverband der Deutschen Industrie
* 1961: TP1 portable record player and radio received Supreme Award at Interplas exhibition, London
* 1963: F21 received ‘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 Art, London, UK
* 1992: Received Ikea prize and uses prize money for his own Dieter and Ingeborg Rams Foundation for the promotion of design
* 1996: Received World Design Medal from the Industrial Designers Society of America
* 2002: Awarded Verdienstkreuz des Verdienstordens der Bundesrepublik Deutschland (Commander's Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany)
* 2003: Received 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: Received from the Raymond Loewy Foundation
* 2009: Awarded the great design prize in Australia.
* 2010: Kölner Klopfer prize awarded by the students of the Cologne International School of Design
* 2012: Reddot design award and IF product design award, for the BN0106 digital chronograph https://www.phorma.com/NWL/news-53/news-53.htm
* 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.

''Rams'' documentary

On June 22, 2016 filmmaker Gary Hustwit announced his documentary ''Rams

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