(Rams 1969)
I have always been a great fan of Apple and their industrial design. Jonathan Ive, Senior Vice President of Industrial Design at Apple, is the principal designer of the iPod, Macbook Pro, iPhone and the iMac. But where does he gets his inspiration. Look no further than Dieter Rams. Rams was a key figure in German design and worked as head of Braun’s design staff in the 60s.
Quotes from Rams reveal a parity with the design ethos of Jonathan Ive:
As designers we have a great responsibility. I believe designers should eliminate the unnecessary. That means eliminating everything that is modish because this kind of thing is only short-lived.
Jonathan Ive’s dedication to “honesty” and “simplicity” in design pays great homages to Dieter Rams’ 10 Commandants in Design:
• Good design is innovative.
• Good design makes a product useful.
• Good design is aesthetic.
• Good design helps us to understand a product.
• Good design is unobtrusive.
• Good design is honest.
• Good design is durable.
• Good design is consequent to the last detail.
• Good design is concerned with the environment.
• Good design is as little design as possible.And here are some similarities between Braun and Apple Products:
(Design / Marketing / Psychology 2008)
Braun T1000 radio and PowerMac G5/Mac Pro
Detail of the radio perforated aluminum surface
Braun T3 pocket radio and Apple iPod
Braun LE1 speaker and Apple iMac
Braun ET66 calculator and the Calculator on the iPhone
Braun clock and an interface element on the iPhone
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Attribution:
– Dieter Rams (1969) © Dieter Rams.
– Design / Marketing / Psychology (2008) Dieter Rams Influence, [online] Available at: http://barryborsboom.wordpress.com/ [Accessed: May 14, 2010].
– I was unable to find some of the image sources.
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