The life and designs of Dieter Rams in individual chapters and stages: Sophie Lovell's monograph ‘Dieter Rams: As Little Design as Possible’ gets to the bottom of a phenomenon and a legend.
Sandra Hofmeister
Dieter Rams 1975, from: Sophie Lovell, Dieter Rams: As Little Design as Possible, Phaidon, London 2011
‘In many ways, Dieter Rams' work cannot be improved upon,’ writes Jonathan Ive in the foreword to this major monograph on Dieter Rams, and the voice of the former Apple designer carries a lot of weight. Dieter Rams is internationally respected and revered. In Japan, the German designer from Kronberg near Frankfurt is worshipped like a rock star, but in Germany itself, enthusiasm has long been rather reserved. Ever since Apple modelled the digital calculator on the iPhone on the design of Dieter Rams' Braun pocket calculator, the German designer has also become a legend in the USA. British journalist and author Sophie Lovell has written the first major monograph on Dieter Rams' complete works. The 400-page volume was published by Phaidon in 2011 – significantly, in English. The book is a bestseller, which is particularly rare in the field of design.
Braun-Archive, photo: Florian Böhm, from: Sophie Lovell, Dieter Rams: As Little Design as Possibleh, Phaidon, London 2011
Stages of a life
‘Indifference to people and the reality in which they live is the only real mortal sin in design.’ This quote from Rams serves as the book's leitmotif. The chapters are divided into the individual stages of the trained architect's life, there is a chapter on Braun, one on Vitsœ furniture and a particularly exciting one on Dieter Rams' house in Kronberg, Hesse. Photo essays by Florian Böhm provide insights into Dieter Rams' home, the working atmosphere in his workshop and details of the world of his objects. Drawings and historical photos by colleagues such as Hans Gugelot and Otl Aicher complete the overview.
Braun-Logo, Design: Wolfgang Schmittel, 1958, from: Sophie Lovell, Dieter Rams: As Little Design as Possible, Phaidon, London 2011
As little design as possible
A separate chapter is also devoted to the design principles formulated by Dieter Rams in his manifesto – today, they are a milestone in the design legacy of the German industrial designer. ‘Experience with design is experience with people,’ it says, for example – a maxim that can be taken as the basis for design, yet is not self-evident. ‘Good design is environmentally friendly,’ Rams also asserts. It is as if he had anticipated the ecological movement that only emerged in the 1960s and 1970s.
Plattenspieler SK 4, Dieter Rams and Hans Gugelot, 1956, from: Sophie Lovell, Dieter Rams: As Little Design as Possible, Phaidon, London 2011
Durable and unobtrusive
An index and a catalogue raisonné round off this comprehensive monograph on Dieter Rams. The graphic design of the book by Kobi Benezri, printed on high-quality paper with plenty of white space, unobtrusive typeface and minimal captions, is as unobtrusive as it is consistent. “Good design is durable” is one of Dieter Rams’ theses, and it also applies to this book. Although the volume is now 15 years old, it remains timeless – just like many of Dieter Rams’ own designs.
Sophie Lovell, Vorwort von Jonathan Ive,
Dieter Rams: So wenig Design wie möglich
400 Seiten, 320 Abbildungen
Phaidon, London 2025
ISBN 9781838669706
View from the Studio to the Garden in Kronberg, photo: Florian Böhm, aus: Sophie Lovell, Dieter Rams: As Little Design as Possible, Phaidon, London 2011
Sophie Lovell, Dieter Rams: As Little Design as Possible, Phaidon,London 2011
Sophie Lovell, Dieter Rams: Dieter Rams: As Little Design as Possible, Phaidon, London 2011
