Born in Wiesbaden, Germany.
Further Reading
Icons Of Design: Dieter Rams
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Dieter Rams 101
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Born in Wiesbaden, Germany.
Enrolls on the architecture and interior design course at Wiesbaden School of Art, but interrupts his studies the following year to complete a carpentry apprenticeship.
Graduates from Wiesbaden and joins the architectural offices of Otto Appel, then works with the US firm Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, in Frankfurt.
Employed by Braun as an architect and interior designer.
Works on the development of the SK4 record player — dubbed ‘Snow White’s Coffin’ because of its radical transparent plastic lid — with Hans Gugelot.
Develops the modular Atelier 1 series with L1 speakers separated from the receiver unit, an innovation that soon became an industry standard.
Begins work on the design of the modular 606 storage system for the furniture manufacturer Vitsœ+Zapf.
Another industry standard is set when the L2 loudspeaker is mounted on a metal stand.
Launch of the T3/4/41, the first pocket sized transistor radio in Germany, designed in the form of a slim flat cube.
Develops the electrostatic LE1 loudspeaker covered with a large, light membrane.
Appointed director of design at Braun.
Develops the Audio 1 system of interchangeable units to be combined as the user wishes — the dimensions of each unit matching those of the 606.
Rams designs the T1000 World Receiver as the first 'all wave' portable radio with unlimited reception and the TG60, Braun’s first tape recorder.
To mark the development of high fidelity technology, Rams replaces the white and grey colour coding of Braun’s products with a new black base in the Studio 1000 hi-fi system.
Rams develops one of his favorite products, the cylindric T2 cigarette lighter with a newly invented magnetic ignition device.
Designs the Phase 1 desk alarm clock for Braun, the first of a series of clocks, watches and clock radios to be developed for the company.
Works with Dietrich Lubs on the design of the ET22 pocket calculator, which will be refined as the ET33, ET44, ET66 and ET88.
Rams develops the Studiomaster 2150 loudspeaker column of six speakers, together with Peter Schneider and Peter Hartwein.
Rams leaves his position of Director of Design at Braun and is succeeded by Peter Schneider. Following this, Rams becomes Executive Director of Corporate Identity Affairs at Braun.
Rams retires from Braun and his position as professor at Hochschule für bildended Künste.
The possibilities for innovation are not, by any means, exhausted. Technological development is always offering new opportunities for innovative design. But innovative design always develops in tandem with innovative technology, and can never be an end in itself.
A product is bought to be used. It has to satisfy certain criteria, not only functional, but also psychological and aesthetic. Good design emphasizes the usefulness of a product whilst disregarding anything that could possibly detract from it.
The aesthetic quality of a product is integral to its usefulness because products we use every day affect our person and our well-being. But only well-executed objects can be beautiful.
It clarifies the product’s structure. Better still, it can make the product talk. At best, it is self-explanatory.
Products fulfilling a purpose are like tools. They are neither decorative objects nor works of art. Their design should therefore be both neutral and restrained, to leave room for the user’s self-expression.
It does not make a product more innovative, powerful or valuable than it really is. It does not attempt to manipulate the consumer with promises that cannot be kept.
It avoids being fashionable and therefore never appears antiquated. Unlike fashionable design, it lasts many years – even in today’s throwaway society.
Nothing must be arbitrary or left to chance. Care and accuracy in the design process show respect towards the user.
Design makes an important contribution to the preservation of the environment. It conserves resources and minimizes physical and visual pollution throughout the lifecycle of the product.
Less, but better – because it concentrates on the essential aspects, and the products are not burdened with non-essentials. Back to purity, back to simplicity.