At the heart of the book are Rams’s Ten Principles of Good Design, the guidelines he developed to combat the wasteful, thoughtless consumerism he saw flooding the market. Good design is innovative, useful, aesthetic, understandable, unobtrusive, honest, durable, thorough to the last detail, environmentally friendly, and—most famously—as little design as possible. These principles aren’t just theoretical musings; they’re practical rules that shaped every radio, calculator, and coffee maker Rams created at Braun.
The book explores how Rams put these ideas into practice across his four-decade career. It examines his design methods and criteria, showing how his purist, almost invisible approach to design emerged from—and influenced—evolving manufacturing cultures and technological possibilities. Through photographs and commentary, readers see how products like the SK 4 record player and the ET 66 calculator embodied his philosophy.
But Less but Better also looks forward. Rams reflects on design ethics, sustainability, and the social responsibility of designers. His fundamental argument remains constant: in a world drowning in poorly conceived products, restraint is revolutionary. Quality beats quantity. Longevity trumps trendiness.
Originally published by the Dieter and Ingeborg Rams Foundation, this bilingual book (German and English) makes the case that Rams’ approach isn’t just historically important—it’s a blueprint for responsible design in the future.
“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“Colour was always used extremely sparingly [in Braun hi-fi appliances] and then only to provide information.”
— Dieter Rams Primary source“My aim was to design [door] handles that were as simple as possible. Our living environment today is complex and polymorphic enough. I have always striven to couteract this chaos.”
— 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“The design of products has a duty to contribute to a sustainable reduction in the number of products as a whole. Therefore the goal for product culture in the coming decades will be ‘less, but better’.”
— Dieter Rams Primary source“Good design is environmentally friendly. Design can and must maintain its contribution towards protecting and sustaining the environment. This does not just include combatting physical pollution, but also visual pollution and destruction of our environment as well.”
— Dieter Rams Primary source“The right methodology is the key to success in many areas of life. This is also true for design—within limits.”
— Dieter Rams Primary source“Good design is durable. It has nothing trendy about it that might be out of date tomorrow. This is one of the major differences between well-designed products and short-lived trivial objects for a throwaway society that can no longer be justified.”
— Dieter Rams Primary source“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 Primary source“A record player, a kitchen appliance, a slide projector or a shaver with disorderly, chaotic, confusing or overloaded design cannot fulfil its functions. The harmony of a design too, its aesthetic quality, also has a functional purpose—it facilitates a positive emotional relationship between a device and its user.”
— Dieter Rams Primary source“Good design is innovative. Good design must be useful. Good design is aesthetic design. Good design makes a product understandable. Good design is honest. Good design is unobtrusive. Good design is long-lasting. Good design is consistent in every detail. Good design is environmentally friendly. And last but not least, good design is as little design as possible.”
— 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• Title: Less but better
• Author: Dieter Rams
• Type: Book
• Publisher: Gestalten
• Publication time: 1995
• Publication place: Germany
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