“The Braun design department was always involved in self-initiated design studies alongside the usual daily workload. I believe that it is very important for designers to have the creative space to develop and refine their own ideas. Most of our studies never went into production—for various reasons—but they often gave important impulses to product development and our regular design work.”
Dieter Rams
Less but better (Primary source)
Less but Better isn’t a comprehensive catalog of Dieter Rams’ work or a complete history of Braun. Instead, it’s something more valuable: a deep dive into the thinking behind some of the twentieth century’s most enduring product designs.
More about “Less but better” →
“Less, but better.”
— Dieter Rams Primary source“I once said that my aim is to leave out everything superfluous in order to allow the essential to come through.”
— Dieter Rams Primary source“It goes without saying that we live with Vitsoe furniture systems; first, because I have only ever designed furniture that I myself would like to have, and second, getting to know the systems in daily use allows me to better recognise where they might be improved or developed further.”
— Dieter Rams Primary source“Functionally oriented design of this kind has always been strongly influenced by technological development, and will continue to be so in the future. The Braun pocket radios that we designed at the end of the 1950s would not have been possible without the new transistor technology at the time. Transistors were not only far smaller than valves, they also required much less power. That meant that for the first time it was possible to make a radio receiver that you could literally put in your pocket.”
— Dieter Rams Primary source“Good criticism is very rare, and always precious.”
— Ralph Waldo Emerson Primary source“It is never hopeless. But sometimes I cannot hope. I try always to hope but sometimes I cannot.”
— Ernest Hemingway Primary source“Work could cure almost anything.”
— Ernest Hemingway Primary source“Peace of mind is the most important prerequisite for creative work.”
— Richard Feynman Secondary sourceDesign Creative Space Side Projects