With the release of the iPhone 4, you may have heard the name “Dieter Rams” being thrown around a little more than usual. Who exactly is this nearly-unpronounceable übermensch of industrial design?
He is this man. He has inspired countless innovations in terms of design, products, and more.
Here are 10 of his Design Principles that you’re going to want to remember:
Dieter Rams’ 10 Principles of Good Design
- 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
Since the beginning of his career in the 1950s, Rams has worked towards the goal of design that is, in his words:
Less, but better.
Consumer electronics were a recent innovation, and designers weren’t really sure how to handle them – most treated them like furniture, covering them with wood panels and printed fabric. Rams was one of the first to treat them as their own thing, and developed a style focused on simplicity, usability, and beauty.
Here are 10 examples of a few of his designs:
How can you begin using some of his principles today?
You know, it always amazes me how we can look at stuff from any number of years ago and say “Wow, that looks so fresh and interesting!” It happens for me in music all the time. I hear stuff that I’ve never heard before and think how cool it is, and find out that it’s from years ago. Good art is like that…
I’m going to run our upcoming church plant through those 10 principles. We’re just assembling a launch team, so we’re still able to change whatever we’d like.
sweet!