Dieter Rams quotes

Dieter Rams is a renowned German industrial designer, famous for his influential work at Braun and his "Ten Principles for Good Design." His minimalist aesthetic and focus on function over form have inspired generations of designers worldwide. He continues to shape the world of design through his philosophy and legacy. Here are 33 of his quotes:

Good design is making something intelligible and memorable. Great design is making something memorable and Meaningful. (Dieter Rams)
Design should not dominate things, should not dominate people. It should help people. That's its role. View quote
Dieter Rams
I am not an early bird. I go to bed normally between midnight and 1 oclock, so it is understandable that I cannot be an early bird. I wake up around 9 oclock. View quote
Dieter Rams
All too much of the man-made is ugly, inefficient, depressing chaos. View quote
Dieter Rams
I sit, I think, I make some drawings. As a designer, you cannot retire totally. View quote
Dieter Rams
I don't like computers. I still like to do my drawings by hand. View quote
Dieter Rams
There is a lot of bad architecture. What we need more is to look at how our landscape should look in the next decades. View quote
Dieter Rams
As designers, we have a great responsibility. View quote
Dieter Rams
You cannot understand good design if you do not understand people; design is made for people. View quote
Dieter Rams
Good design is as little design as possible. Less, but better - because it concentrates on the essential aspects, and the products are not burdened with non-essentials. Back to purity, back to simplicity. View quote
Dieter Rams
Good design is innovative 2. Good design makes a product useful 3. Good design is aesthetic 4. Good design makes a product understandable 5. Good design is unobtrusive 6. Good design is honest 7. Good design is long-lasting 8. Good design is thorough, down to the last detail 9. Good design is environmentally friendly 10. Good design is as little design as possible. (Dieter Rams)
My heart belongs to the details. I actually always found them to be more important than the big picture. Nothing works without details. They are everything, the baseline of quality. View quote
Dieter Rams
One of the most significant design principles is to omit the unimportant in order to emphasize the important. View quote
Dieter Rams
Having small touches of colour makes it more colourful than having the whole thing in colour. View quote
Dieter Rams
Good design is long-lasting! It avoids being fashionable and therefore never appears antiquated. View quote
Dieter Rams
Things which are different in order simply to be different are seldom better, but that which is made to be better is almost always different. View quote
Dieter Rams
Good designers must always be avant-gardists, always one step ahead of the times. They should – and must – question everything generally thought to be obvious. They must have an intuition for people's changing attitudes. For the reality in which they live, for their dreams, their desires, their worries, their needs, their living habits. They must also be able to assess realistically the opportunities and bounds of technology. View quote
Dieter Rams
A product is bought to be used. It has to satisfy certain criteria, not only functional, but also psychological and aesthetic. Good design emphasizes the usefulness of a product whilst disregarding anything that could possibly detract from it. View quote
Dieter Rams
Good design is thorough, down to the last detail. View quote
Dieter Rams
People react positively when things are clear and understandable. View quote
Dieter Rams
Good design is thorough down to the last detail - Nothing must be arbitrary or left to chance. Care and accuracy in the design process show respect towards the consumer. (Dieter Rams)
I am troubled by the devaluing of the word 'design'. I find myself now being somewhat embarrassed to be called a designer. In fact I prefer the German term, Gestalt-Ingenieur. Apple and Vitsoe are relatively lone voices treating the discipline of design seriously in all corners of their businesses. They understand that design is not simply an adjective to place in front of a product's name to somehow artificially enhance its value. Ever fewer people appear to understand that design is a serious profession; and for our future welfare we need more companies to take that profession seriously. View quote
Dieter Rams
An honest design communicates solely the functions and values it offers. It does not attempt to manipulate buyers and users with promises it cannot keep. View quote
Dieter Rams
My worry is that the world is becoming more chaotic every day. My excitement is that more people paying attention to 'Less but better' could help solve our growing problems. View quote
Dieter Rams
Design is a thinking process that starts in the head and with sketches. Thinking cannot be done by a computer. View quote
Dieter Rams

Dieter Rams

Dieter Rams - Image
Photo: Vitsœ at English Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0
Occupation: German Designer
Born: May 20, 1932
Quotes count: 33

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