“What is good design? Product design is the total configuration of a product: its form, material and construction. You can't understand good design if you don't understand people. For design to be understood by everyone it should be as simple as possible.” – Dieter Rams
In order to learn more about Dieter Rams, I watched the documentary “Rams” by filmmaker Gary Hustwit. The documentary talks about his life, his iconic work at Braun and Vitsœ, his philosophy and his concerns about the future of design.
In the film, they go through the 10 principles of good design. These ten principles answer the question he asked himself, concerned by the state of the world and aware of his significance as a contributor to that world, “Is my design good design?”
They can be found in Vitsœ’s website: https://www.vitsoe.com/gb/about/good-design
These principles were the result of the first 20 years of his work. It was not something he came up with at the beginning, as a theory, a plan on how to work. Rams has always emphasized that they weren’t meant to last forever. They should be updated. However, these principles are still relevant today and have influenced many designers.
One of my favourite designs is the Braun ET 66 Calculator, designed by Dieter Rams and Dietrich Lubs.
“The product’s graphics were very important. Dieter paid a lot of attention to that. We were trying to eliminate the need for user manuals, which isn’t entirely possible. But we wanted to make it so that the machine at least could be used without one. Which means a reduction to the bare essentials and removal of anything that could be a distraction.” says Dietrich Lubs.
“The ET 66 was a simple calculator for the general household. The keys were neatly separated and color-coded so you could immediately tell which row of keys would have which function. Today I see this as an example of something that can’t be improved upon or made obsolete.”
Good design makes it easy to understand the structure of the product. It lets the product talk, explain itself. Good design is as little design as possible. It concentrates on the essential aspects, and the products are not burdened with non-essentials.
The use of basic shapes, the contrast between rectangles and circles, the use of the colours and its importance makes this a great design.
“Sometimes it is more important to have a yellow push button which tells you something. The colour needs to fit to the product. A kitchen machine which you use everyday in your kitchen cannot stay in a strong colour. The push button can, but not the whole machine. It is too dominating. Design should not dominate things, not dominate people. It should help people” says Dieter Rams.
In fact, it even influenced Apple. The calculator app on the iPhone is inspired by Rams’ version for Braun. Steve Jobs and Jony Ive admired the work of Dieter Rams and that admiration can often be found in many of Apple’s products, such as the iPod.
“What Dieter Rams and his team at Braun did was to produce hundreds of wonderfully conceived and designed objects: products that were beautifully made in high volumes and that were broadly accessible” says Jony Ive.
This is another of the things I admire about Dieter Rams work for Braun. Making beautifully designed products which were accessible to everyone. Design nowadays seems to have become a synonym for exclusiveness or luxury, limited and available to just a few. Even the designs he made for Vitsœ seems a bit expensive in my opinion. 425 pounds for the nesting pair of 621 tables? 3495 pounds for the 620 Chair Programme? I don’t think many people are able to afford that. It is true that these objects will probably last a lifetime if well looked after and treated properly, but most people are unable to see this, or perhaps don’t want to.
“Today no industry is interested in repairing things. This is also a phenomenon - it’s better to just buy a new one. We have to get away from the “un-culture” of abundance. Because there is no future with so many redundant things. “Less, but better” is not just a design concept, it’s also about our behavior. Less would be better everywhere.” says Rams.
Nowadays, more than ever, we live in a consumer, throwaway society. We buy things and when they get damaged or we no longer want them, we throw them away and buy something else. Replace instead of repair.
Good design is environmentally friendly. Design makes an important contribution to preserving the environment. It conserves resources and minimizes physical and visual pollution.
The Vitsœ 606 Universal Shelving System is a step to changing this. “The 606 Universal Shelving System is timeless; it moves with you when you move; and constant additions and improvements ensure that it always caters for today’s needs.”
This is what makes this design great in my opinion. It allows you to organise the shelves however you want, in order to make the best use of the space. More importantly, it isn’t a fixed design. It enables you to rearrange the shelves, dismantle them and add new ones. There is no need to throw all the shelves away if you need a different layout or need more. Simply change it. Add to it.
When designing, we must not only think about the present. We need to consider the future, the lifetime of the product. How long will the product last? How can it be maintained? What will happen once it gets damaged? Can it be repaired? If not, can the damaged component be replaced, instead of having to throw away the whole product? Once it can no longer be used, can it be recycled?
Function is a very important quality in a product. However, it is not the only one. “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.”
“Design is increasingly associated with beautification. I hate the term beautification. We never just wanted to make something beautiful. We wanted to make things better, as I have always wanted. What we need is: less, but better.”