Less but better.

Terry Richardson swaggered-on today about his freshly arrived, vintage Braun calculator, which in Terry’s words is absolute perfection. In his post he made reference to the designers Dieter Rams and Dietrich Lubs. Not recognizing either of those names, I decided to Google Dieter Rams, and now 5 hours later here is what I know.

Good design:

is innovative
makes a product useful
is aesthetic
makes a product understandable
is unobtrusive
is honest
is long-lasting
is thorough down to the last detail
is environmentally friendly
is as little design as possible

The entrepreneur has to want it.

“the people at the top of the company have to want it… What’s missing today is that these kind of entrepreneurs are no longer there. Today there is only Apple and to a lesser extent Sony, but not to the same degree as was the case with Olivetti and Braun, or Peter Behrens at AEG, or Herman Miller and Charles Eames, Florence Knoll with Saarinen and so on. These kinds of connections are missing today.”

Can’t be a department.

“…Braun’s unique culture, in which designers, technicians and industrialists worked hand in hand to produce extraordinary products. Everything was done in-house: Rams oversaw graphic and packaging design, advertising and even the design of Braun’s buildings and interiors.”

Above two quotes from Icon Magazine Interview February 2004

It happens when it has to.

“And don’t forget the years around the end of the 50s beginning of the 60s – there was a movement at this time to make things in another way, yes? To forget the war and all these terrible things – so, especially in Germany, we had to build cities in another way, so it was a movement to make things better and today we have lost this movement to make things better.”

Above quote from Icon Magazine Interview – Unknown Date

Dieter Rams inspires Apple:

(I still know nothing about Dietrich Lubs. I’m slightly afraid to Google him, as my Saturday only has a few hours left. So much to learn, so little time.)