Less but Better

The new edition of the benchmark work originally published by the Dieter and Ingeborg Rams Foundation and Jo Klatt. Few product designs have the staying power of creations by Dieter Rams. Almost everything produced by one of the most influential designers of the twentieth century is today considered a classic. This new and revised edition of Less but Better shows once again why Dieter Rams’s approach to design will be relevant for the foreseeable future Ideas of what can and must be achieved by good design are in a constant state of flux as a result of cultural and technological developments. Dieter Rams, however, came up with ten principles that advocate for a purist, almost imperceptible design. These principles are still considered timeless fundaments of design theory and practice today: Good design is innovative. Good design makes a product useful. Good design is aesthetic. Good design helps a product to be understood. Good design is unobtrusive. Good design is honest. Good design is durable. Good design is consistent to the last detail. Good design is environmentally friendly. Good design is as little design as possible. Less but Better does not set out to be a complete documentation of Dieter Rams’s body of work, nor does it claim to tell the full story of the company Braun. Rather, the book explores the ideas, criteria, and methods behind Rams’s creations and reveals how a shifting culture of product manufacturing gave rise to universal design benchmarks. From his reflections on design ethics and values we can distill a clear paradigm for future design —because one principle has remained firm over the years: less is simply better.

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