Dieter rams pdf download

Design Hero
“Question everything generally thought to be obvious,
Less, is better, Good design is as little de

Good design is
sign as possible,

honest, Good Good design is aesthetic design,

design should be innovative, Good design

is consistent in every detail, Good

design is long lived, Good design
will make a product understand able, Good
design should make a product useful, Good
design should be envi ronmentally
friendly, Good design is unobtrusive ”
Harry Ketley
Contents

1. Preface

2. Introduction

3. Biography

4. Philosophy

5. 10 Principles of Design

6. Braun

Braun Timeline

7. Vitsoe

Vitsoe Timeline

8. Closing Quote

9. Bibliography

List of Illustrations

 “As a matter of fact, whoever looked
into our world from the outside and
sees what we have done to it must
be puzzled of the humankind and the
environment it has created.”
Dieter Rams

[Less, But Better, V&A, 20/2/]

1
Fig 1: Dieter Rams,
Introduction “Less is, better”

Dieter Rams in [Fig 2, ] became one of the most influential

Industrial designers of the 20th century ranging from Interior
Design and architecture to product design. [Ambrose, Harris, ]
He did this by using elegance and simplicity in his designs mixed
with dissatisfaction for the world and what he called “chaos in
existing architecture and products in the market. The experimental
and different use of materials he used made him well known as an
innovative designer who went against styles of post WWII design
movements. His ethos was functionality and longevity in products,
which he believes is part of good design. Rarely did he talk about
the beauty and aesthetics which is ironic because so many of his
products became an iconic image of design. [Design Museum,
]
2
Fig 2: Dieter Rams
Biography
Dieter Rams was Born May 20th in Wiesbaden, Gemany. After university he started at Braun as an Architect and Interior
He grew up influenced by his grandfather a carpenter who made Designer. He had his first task the next year and the following year
forms and shapes pleasing to the eye. [Design Museum, 22 June he created a first design of a chair for Otta Zapf, which can look
] This was Dieter Rams earliest memory of inspiration and his like an early version of Universal shelving units [which can be
passion for design. seen in a writters notebook at rushbrookrathbone.co.uk]. He quickly became
noticed and subsequently became Head of Production Design and
Before his career in he studied architecture and interior continued to climb the business in getting appointed Director
Design at School of Arts in Wiesbaden. Whilst at university he won of Production Design. During his time at Braun he became well
a trade competition winning a journeyman’s certificate, which is a known for hid innovative designs and different use of material. His
tradesman’s certificate, which usually means you have to complete products have a simplistic user-friendly feel and a modern look
an apprenticeship for. He carried on to graduated with a distinction. people where instantly drawn to. He ended his career in after
40 years of successful design. [Design Boom, ] Dieter Rams still
believes from his years of experience that the best design comes
from good partnerships within a company.

Although he had a successful time at Braun, in Dieter

asked Erwin Braun for permission to design furniture for a company
called Vitsoe for Niels Vitsoe and Otto Zapf. This was instantly
approved because Erwin thought it would benefit the market for
radios. A year later Dieter designed the wall mounted Univer
sal Shelving systems. Throughout his career he continued to raise
awareness to the limited natural resources we have on our planet.
Vitsoe continues to make furniture and Dieter Rams still works for
them to this day.

3
Fig 3: young Dieter Rams
Philosophy

Aims and beliefs are very important to a Designer because it

creates an image and sculpts their motives. Dieter Rams had very
strong beliefs of what was wrong with the world. He seemed to be
very dissatisfied by what was around him calling it “an impenetrable
confusion of forms, colours and noise”. [Brimstone and rushbrookrathbone.co.uk,
] When it came to design he also knew what he wanted, how
it should function, its look and feel aesthetically. His strong beliefs
and unique way of thinking have made him who he is. Designers
today have similar concepts and views and have more in common
than a lot of designers back then. People are much more conscious
about the environment and the effects products are having today,
Dieter Rams quotes this continuously since almost 60 years ago. It
is fascinating how many of his opinions would fit in with modern
environmentally conscious designers today still feeling like
“modern” views. [A writters Notebook, rushbrookrathbone.co.uk]

When people talk about his ethos they often use words
and phrases like sustainable, longevity, functionality, question
everything, less is better, too much rubbish along with many other
famous quotes he has talked about. People warm to this because
although he can be seen as negative all his aspirations are positive
but he sees chaos. Dieter Rams developed a series of principles of
good design and wanted to bring a new world of modern design to
post 2nd World War Germany.

4
Fig 8: Dieter Rams
 10 Principles of Good Design
1. Good design is Innovative

2. Good design makes a product useful

3. Good design is aesthetic

4. Good design makes a product understandable

5. Good design is unobtrusive

6. Good design is honest

7. Good design is long lasting

8. Good design is thorough down to the last detail

9. Good design is environmentally friendly

Good design is little design as possible

by Dieter Rams

5
Fig 4: TP 1 Radio/Phonon , Fig 5: T3 Braun pocket radio Fig 6: SK 4 Record Player , Fig 7: Sixtant SM2 shaver for Braun

The Second World War affected Braun badly as they had to

stop making products for the civilian sector. In a lot of factories
where bombed and destroyed leaving only employees. After
being disheartened but not completely destroyed the company was
in the process of being rebuilt in and in they launched
their first electric shaver called “S 50” (figure 8). [rushbrookrathbone.co.uk]

Dieter Rams joined Braun in aged 23 along with 15

other designers. In his first year of Braun Dieter started off as an
Interior Designer and [in source-] is his first sketch as his task was to
modernize the interior. What is interesting about this sketch is that
it shows the earliest signs of his product made for Vitsoe in the back
ground called “ Universal Shelving unit”. [Vitsoe, ]
Braun is a German electrics company known for longevity,
reliability and sustainability and is seen as a pioneer for the Industrial Dieter Rams brought a lot to the company bringing innovative
Design. Dieter Rams is a big part of Braun’s great reputation due revolutionary ideas and introducing new materials such as the
to his designs and principles associated with design. Braun started SK-4 Radiogram where a transparent plastic lid was used. [Kemp,
by an engineer called Max Braun who established the company in ] This was thought as being ugly in post world war II as people
Frankfurt am Main. The company was started by Max Braun fixing were not used to see the inside components. Dieter quickly gained
radio parts in , later in the logo with the distinct rounded respect in the company making a name for him. He became head of
A was established. The company thrived on making shavers, radio Braun in till where Peter Schneider succeeded. [Springer
player, electrics and was quickly expanding. [Design Museum, 22nd DE, ]
June ]

6
Fig 9: Shaver “S 50” , Fig Dieter Rams sketch,
 SK-4 Record Player - TP1 Radio/Phono l flat loudspeaker MPZ 21 multipress citrus juicer -

Time at Braun

SK-5 Radiogram - Braun FS 80 - T World Reciever - KF 20 Aromater -

 “Living better, with less, that lasts
longer”

Vitsoe is a furniture dising company which was started by

Neil Vitsoe in The aim of Vitsoe is to have long lasting good
quality furniture that can be used through several generations.
They also use quotes that are on the website saying, “Living better,
with less, that lasts longer.” [Ambrose, Harris, ] Dieter Rams
first collaborated whist working at Braun. Vitsoe has an ethos that
people can only warm too. Vitsoe looked on how people can have
less impact on the environment by less waste and the unnecessary
need people have to continuously replace products that have a short
life span. When talking about what there products should be, long
lasting, easy to repair/replace parts, allow to evolve, construct and
dismantle it gives a very honest almost family feel if you assume the
furniture will last so long that it will be passed down generations.
Vitsoe also had the belief that we need to reuse and not recycle. A
lot of the aims and thought process behind this company seems
very similar with Dieter Rams morals, which is why he flourished
and did so well. [Ambrose, Harris, ] Dieter Rams continues to
work for Vitsoe to this very day continuing his journey for a better
future.

7
Fig Universal shelving System Fig Niels Vitsoe
 - - RZ 61 - Corpus -

Time at Vitsoe
Continuing

- Easy Chair - - RHa Worklight -

 “I think that good designers must always be
avant-gardists, always one step ahead of the times,”
They should – and must – question everything
generally thought to be obvious. They must have
an intuition for people’s changing attitudes. For
the reality in which they live, for their dreams, their
desires, their worries, their needs, their living habits.
They must also be able to assess realistically the
opportunities and bounds of technology.”
Dieter Rams [Vitsoe, ]

8
Fig Braun T Radio, , Fig Universal Shelving Unit , Fig Dieter Rams
Bibliography

Consorske-Lang, Hemp, () The Design of Material, Organism, and minds:

Different Understandings of Design

Harris, () Packaging The brand: Exploring the relationship between Packaging
Design and Brand Identity
rushbrookrathbone.co.uk
books?id=PKpiYVV0GdMC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false

Hustwit, () Objectified

Klemp, Ueki-Polet, () Less and More: The design Ethos of Dieter Rams, Prestel
Pub

Lovell, () Dieter Rams: as Little Design as Possible, Phaidon Press

Margolin, () Design Discourse: History Theory Critisism, University of Chicago

Press

Raizman, D., () History of Modern Design, : Graphics and products since the
Industrial Revolution, Laurence King, Secon Edition

Rams, () TV&A films, Cold War Modern, Tom Haines, A Cultured Media
Production
rushbrookrathbone.co.uk,-designer-cold-war-modern/

Swissnex San Francisco, () Swissnex: Around Dieter Rams

rushbrookrathbone.co.uk

Vinh, () Alessandro Mendini Interviews Dieter Rams, Domus magazine

Zec, Who’s Who in Design, Volume 2, Volume 2, Springer DE,

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 I Flat Loudspeaker
rushbrookrathbone.co.uk

Illustrations Bibliography T World Reciever

rushbrookrathbone.co.uk
rushbrookrathbone.co.uk
MPZ 21 Multipress Citrus Juicer
1 Fig 1: Dieter Rams, rushbrookrathbone.co.uk
rushbrookrathbone.co.uk KF 20 Aromater
rushbrookrathbone.co.uk“good-design”/
2 Fig 1: Dieter Rams
rushbrookrathbone.co.uk 7 Fig Universal Shelving System
rushbrookrathbone.co.ukncom/en/products/Chair-Programme-by-VITSOE-by-
3 Fig 3: Young Dieter Rams Dieter-Rams;jsessionid=2BCFDFC5DCF0AAADBA pg
rushbrookrathbone.co.uk rushbrookrathbone.co.uk
Dieter-Rams-As-Little-Design-as-Possible Fig Niels Vitsoe
rushbrookrathbone.co.uk
4 Fig 8: Dieter Rams
http://designeu/designblog/wp-content/uploads//07/Dieter-Rams. -
jpg rushbrookrathbone.co.uk
-
5 Fig 4: Radio/Phonon rushbrookrathbone.co.uk
Fig 5: T3 Braun Pocket Radio -
rushbrookrathbone.co.uk?p= rushbrookrathbone.co.uk
Fig 6: SK 4 Record Player Easy Chair
rushbrookrathbone.co.uk rushbrookrathbone.co.uk
Fig 7: Sixtant SM2 for Braun RZ 61 -
rushbrookrathbone.co.uk rushbrookrathbone.co.uk#essay-dining-table
php -
rushbrookrathbone.co.ukncom/en/products/Chair-Programme-by-VITSOE-by-
6 Fig 9: Shaver “S 50” Dieter-Rams;jsessionid=2BCFDFC5DCF0AAADBA
rushbrookrathbone.co.uk Corpus
Fig Dieter Rams Sketch rushbrookrathbone.co.uk
rushbrookrathbone.co.uk RHa Worklight
rushbrookrathbone.co.uk
Sk-4 Record Player
rushbrookrathbone.co.uk 8 Fig Braun Radio
SK-5 Radiogram rushbrookrathbone.co.uk
rushbrookrathbone.co.uk?p= rushbrookrathbone.co.uk
TP1 Radio/Phono Fig Universal Shelving Unit
rushbrookrathbone.co.uk rushbrookrathbone.co.uk
design/ interview-mit-mark-adams-ceo-von-vitsoe
Braun FS 80 Fig Dieter Rams
rushbrookrathbone.co.uk rushbrookrathbone.co.uk
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