Dieter rams

The great simplifier

Though he worked with only two companies (Braun, where he was chief design officer from 1961 to 1995, and Vitsoe, the sole producer of his furniture since 1959), Dieter Rams’ elegant minimalism revolutionised product design and has influenced wave after wave of designers since. His contribution as one of our inaugural Guest Editors in 2007 featured a conversation with Naoto Fukasawa, in which the pair discussed the design influence of companies such as Olivetti and Apple, and their mutual passion for Bonsai. An additional 16-page portfolio explored Rams’ Ten Commandments of Design. ‘Now, more than ever, when industrial design as a discipline seems to have lost touch with a clarity of purpose and focus, it is time to perhaps get back to a core of principles and strip away the superfluous once again,’ he told us. Though he is long since retired, Rams’ work generates as much interest as ever: in 2013, he was awarded the London Design Festival’s Lifetime Achievement Medal, while a documentary, by filmmaker Gary Hustwit, and a touring show of some 250 works are in the pipeline.