“Less, But Better,” Dieter Rams’s Ten Commandments on Good Design and the Design of a Just and Sustainable World

“If Homo Sapiens participate in any intergalactic design competition, our industrial civilization would be tossed out at the qualifying round. It doesn’t fit. It won’t last. The scale is wrong. And even its apologists admit that it is not very pretty. The design failures of industrially, technologically driven societies are manifest in the loss of diversity of all kinds, destabilization of the earth’s biogeochemical cycles, pollution, soil erosion, ugliness, poverty, injustice, social decay, and economic instability. Industrial civilization, of course, was not designed at all; it simply happened.” (adapted from David W. Orr)

“Countries are, in a sense, companies. They compete against one another, they have rivalries. Sadly, we still cannot manage to find a common denominator, or even to agree on which direction we should start moving in. And I hope, very much, that it will be possible someday, through design.” (Dieter Rams)

“I don’t know if humanity will make it, ultimately. I can only say that perhaps design — with the few nice things that are sometimes created — can offer a few rays of hope so that things can look better for this planet we are just visiting.” (Dieter Rams)

“Design begins in the mind.” (Dieter Rams)

 

Dieter Rams’s design philosophy

As the head designer at German electronics and household appliance manufacturer Braun from the early-1960s until 1995, Dieter Rams was one of the most influential product designers in the 20th century. During his forty years at Braun, he developed products to be manufactured at vast scale and used daily by millions of people, yet he remained as provocative and questioning as ever in his quest for “good design”.

“I think that good designers must always be avant-gardists, always one step ahead of the times,” he said in a speech to the Braun supervisory board in 1980. “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.”

He defines his design philosophy as “plainness, understandability, modesty and simplicity.” On the other hand he is focused on usefulness. In other words it is function-centered product design where “form follows function”. Here are some of his description of it:

“How can a concrete formula like ‘form follows function’ be morphed to ‘function follows form’ without being misunderstood or made fun of? . . . Functionality is a must . . . the basic ideas of functionality carries design beyond all the styles and beyond everything [and] defines it through the reality of usage . . . By the end of the craftsmanship, regarding non-functional parts as excessive load on design [has] made ‘functionality’ a peak for the new design generation.”

“Design that fulfils the requirements of functionality must be composed of the reality of human usage, human life, human needs, will and deep, diverse, patient emotions. The design of a product reflects the designers’ thoughts of the people. We can know about someone having a look at his residence. Just like that we can understand what kind of a consumer population is in the target of the designer by looking at a chair. For sure in the past and today, designers’ view of the reality of usage is very narrow and shallow. The reality of usage restricts the tasks a product must fulfill.”

“Industrial design is still a young profession. We are at the beginning yet. In none of our designs and details we could reach the perfectness of natural phenomena such as hand-wing, eye-skin and flower-seed, which are formed through a natural evolution. Technique is developing with an accelerating pace. The behavior, needs attitudes and the life, facts of people are continuously changing. Parallel to this, the environment created by functional design is moving quickly and continuously. New problems and tasks await us, but we have experience and technique.”

Though his design philosophy was applied to consumer products, the design principles he derived from it seems well-suited too for the design of our social systems (economics, politics, law, etc.), where things are so complex, incomprehensible, remote and often useless in improving the lives of people and conserving nature. We can see this relevance by reading his description about the design approach he use: “Weniger, aber besser”, which freely translates as “less, but better.” Sounds eeringly similar to the often heard of “less is more”.

 

“Less, But Better,” Dieter Rams’s Ten Commandments on Good Design

In the preface of his 150 page book “Weniger, aber besser. Less but better“, he said:

“All things considered, the essence of design which determined me and my fellow designers was summed up in ten simple statements a few years ago. They are helpful means for orientation and understanding. They are not binding. Good design is in a constant state of redevelopment — just like technology and culture.”

Here are the principles:

1. Good design is innovative
2. Good design makes a product useful
3. Good design is aesthetic
4. Good design helps a product to be understood
5. Good design is unobtrusive
6. Good design is honest
7. Good design is durable
8. Good design is consistent to the last detail
9. Good design is concerned with the environment
10. Good design is as little design as possible

Read the following explanations on the meaning of each principle with the messy design of our social systems (politics, economics, law, etc.) in mind. In his own words in the book:

1. Good design is innovative.

“It does not copy existing product forms, nor does it produce any kind of novelty just for the purpose of it. The essence of innovation must clearly be seen in all funtions of a product. Possibilities in this respect are by no means exhausted. The current technological development keeps offering new chances for innovative solutions.”

2. Good design makes a product useful.

“The product is bought in order to be used. It must serve a defined purpose — in both primary and additional functions. The most important task of design is to optimize the utility of a product.”

3. Good design is aesthetic.”

“The aesthetic quality of a product — and the fascination it inspires — is an integral part of the product’s utility. Without doubt, it is uncomfortable and tiring to have to put up with products which are confusing, that get on your nerves, which you are unable to relate to. However, it has always been a hard task to argue about aesthetic quality. For two reasons: First it is difficult to talk about anything visual since words have a different meaning for different people. Secondly, aesthetic quality deals with details, subtle shades, harmony and the equilibrium of a whole variety of visual elements. A good eye is required, schooled by years and years of experience, in order to be able to draw the right conclusions.”

4. Good design helps to understand a product.

“It clarifies the structure of the product. And more: The product speaks — in a sense. Optimally, the product is self-explanatory and saves you the long, tedious perusal of the operating manual.”

5. Good design is unobstrusive.

“Products that answer this caption are tools. They are neither decorative objects nor works of art. Their design should always be neutral, they must not be seen, they must underline their usefulness.”

6. Good design is honest.

“An honestly designed product must not claim features it does not have — more innovative, more efficient, of higher value. It must not influence or manipulate buyers and users.”

7. Good design is durable.

“Nothing trendy which might be out of date tomorrow. This is one of the major differences between well-designed products and trivial objects for a waste-producing society. Waste must no longer be tolerated.”

8. Good design is consequent to the last detail.

Thoroughness and accuracy of design are synonyms in view of the product itself and its functions, seen with the eyes of the user.

9. Good design is concerned with environment.

“Design must make contributions for a stable environment and sensible raw material situation. This does not only include actual pollution, but also the visual pollution and desctruction of our environment.”

10. Good design is as little design as possible.

“Back to purity, back to simplicity!”

 

“Less, but better” for the design of a just and sustainable world

(The following is a repost of “German Design Guru Discusses Peace, Purpose and Pollution“, an interview with Dieter Rams by Jennifer Abramsohn at dw-world.de)

DW-WORLD.DE: Mr. Rams, what do you think about all the claims that Apple is using your designs as inspiration for some of its most popular products, like the iPod, iPhone, or G5?

Dieter Rams: I like to take it as a compliment!

DW-WORLD.DE:Many people consider your designs for Braun the epitome of “German design.” Is there still a German design language?

Dieter Rams: I have always said, there is no explicit German design. German design always wanted to be international design. Starting with Bauhaus, they called it international design. The Ulm School of Design called their style international design. In contrast to Scandinavia, where they talked about Scandinavian Design, we didn’t want our design to be connected with the country.

And especially at Braun, from the beginning, [company founders] Erwin and Arthur Braun didn’t want a particularly “German” design. We fought for it to be known as Braun design. It was supposed to be general.

DW-WORLD.DE:Are you saying you consider yourself more European than German?

Dieter Rams: I’ve never seen myself as really German. I mean, Germany is my homeland, OK. But I’m neither nationalistic nor any “istic” I’m against all “isms.”

We have to start thinking about how to work together — and not only in Europe. It’s hard, because each country wants to put its own interests in the foreground. But we have to hold together worldwide. Otherwise I don’t see any other possibility for us to achieve a unified culture, not to mention a unified, peaceful world.

DW-WORLD.DE:But some people say it is important for German business to play up its design reputation, as a way of standing out in the international economy. The country even funds federal and state design centers to promote the field…

Dieter Rams: Of course, it is important. I was president of the German Design Council myself, for a long time. And I always fought for political support for design in Germany. If you had this political background, then of course you could establish an identity — the way companies have a visual identity.

Countries are, in a sense, companies. They compete against one another, they have rivalries. Sadly, we still cannot manage to find a common denominator, or even to agree on which direction we should start moving in. And I hope, very much, that it will be possible someday, through design.

DW-WORLD.DE:World peace through design?

Dieter Rams: Design in terms of industrial design, and not where it is sort of heading now, as a lifestyle instrument. Good design has nothing to do with lifestyle.

I don’t want to criticize living well — I’m glad to be doing well. But “lifestyle” and “wellness” have nothing to do with our day-to-day culture. Our everyday culture should be taken more seriously. And design has — or should have — the responsibility of taking our culture, responsibly, out into the wider world.

The people who are in charge of doing this are product designers, together with the companies they work for, and — although that is the part I really think is missing — politicians. Especially if we see individual countries as businesses. Which, in effect, they are.

DW-WORLD.DE:How much is personal contentment related to the objects that surround us?

Dieter Rams: I’m happy if I get a good night’s sleep, have positive thoughts, and stay healthy. At my age you have to think about these things a bit.

Dieter Rams: But of course, lots of things bother me, and I have overlooked a lot of them intentionally. It’s funny, the psychological chaos and destruction in our world is widely recognized. It is constantly discussed, mulled over, described, written about. What never gets discussed or written about is the visual destruction of our environment.

For example, do we need windmills littering the countryside, when we don’t even know if they could still be technically improved? They make a lot of noise. Or trash removal, with all the green, blue, yellow bags that litter the streets. These things are visual pollution. And we don’t deal with it.

DW-WORLD.DE:One of your famous design principles is that design should be concerned with the environment. How so?

Dieter Rams: It may sound a bit banal, but I would love to see the day when the world is a more beautiful place, when we honor the nature around us. But we are stomping on it. We are ruining our host, mother Earth. And we aren’t even aware we are doing it. We’re leaving it to the next generation to take care of it. And I think that’s the place we need to start.

I don’t know if humanity will make it, ultimately. I can only say that perhaps design — with the few nice things that are sometimes created — can offer a few rays of hope so that things can look better for this planet we are just visiting.

 

The way forward

In answering an interviewer’s question “Which items do you use in design? Computer? Models? How important are they in your work?”, he reveals an important task designers in all walks of life must remember well. His answers to these questions are brief: “paper, pen, model, computer . . . all these have minor importance. The major is to think. Design begins in the mind.” He puts this more thoroughly when he said:

“The problem which has to be solved in design practice is the problem of deciding the functions to be omitted or deciding the functions which will be given priority and determining the density of work that will be performed depending on these priorities. I can say that this is a long and detailed task. And unfortunately, there isn’t a recipe or quick solution for this.”

We seem to have lost a sense of priority, and a sense of function resulting in the devastation of our lives and our world. Dieter Rams showed us solid design principles in redesigning our systems so they improve the lives of people and heal the only home we have.

 

Related entries

• Permaculture . . . Design Philosophy and Practice for a People-Planet-Caring Civilization
• Designing a Life-Sustaining Industry and Economy with First-Order Principles of Sustainability and Backcasting
• 21 Worldchanging Principles for Sustainability in the 21st Century, from WorldChanging.com
• Cradle to Cradle, Remaking the Way We Make Things by William McDonough and Michael Braungart, a Case for a Truly Sustainable Design
• Redesigning Civilization as a Healthy Living System – the Thinking of Elisabet Sahtouris
• Winning the Great Wager by Alex Steffen
• Macroshift: Navigating the Transformation to a Sustainable World by Ervin Laszlo

 

References

1. “Dieter Rams“, a Wikipedia entry
2. “10 Commandments of (Sustainable) Design” @ Treehugger
3. A profile of Dieter Rams at Designophy.com
4. A profile of Dieter Rams at designmuseum.com
5. Excerpts of the book “Dieter Rams — Less but better” by Christophe Stoll at precious-forever.com
6. “German Design Guru Discusses Peace, Purpose and Pollution“, an interview with Dieter Rams by Jennifer Abramsohn at dw-world.de