Ten Principles for Good Design: Dieter Rams

Ten Principles for Good Design: Dieter Rams

Cees W. de Jong (Editor)

Prestel Publishing / Random House

Familiar with the German brand Braun?

Ever wondered what made it the successful brand it came to be?

Braun’s designs are renowned the world over and Dieter Rams has been the driver and architect behind it all, as well as the designs behind the brand Vitsoe. In this book he boils down his approach to design and distils it down to ten principles. What is great about the principles is that they can be applied to creative process in general and are not merely limited to product design.

However, the illustrations accompanying his guidelines mainly depict products he has designed, with emphasis put on the merits that made them usable independently from cultural and other demarcation lines.

Apart from Rams own elaborations on design, his speeches and other publications, he is placed in the bigger context in the world of design and light is shed not only on his personal philosophy but also on the immense influence he has exerted ever since with the breadth of his oeuvre beautifully illustrated via the accompaniment of photo galleries depicting Rams’ and his design team’s emissions.

Good design matters and this tome is a vital source of inspiration and ode to one of the great designers of our day and age, whose influence reverberates through ubiquitous products through all facets of our daily routine – be it coffee grinders, shelving systems or cigarette lighters.