What makes for good design? Well one man, the German industrial designer Dieter Rams, has I suspect given this question more thought than most of us. Ramms worked as a designer for the German domestic appliance manufacturer Braun for over 50 years and his work became known for his simplicity. Only the essentials are kept. The record player (remember those) below became known as "sleeping beauty" because when the lid was down it looked a little like a glass coffin. His ten properties of good design are listed below. They have become known as the "Ten Commandments" and could be applied to web design as well as to architecture. They are great observations, my favourite is "Good Design Makes A Product Understandable", it a thing, a building a web page, whatever should communicate something of its simplicity to its user.
Good Design Is Innovative : The possibilities for innovation are not, by any means, exhausted. Technological development is always offering new opportunities for innovative design. But innovative design always develops in tandem with innovative technology, and can never be an end in itself.
Good Design Makes a Product Useful : A product is bought to be used. It has to satisfy certain criteria, not only functional but also psychological and aesthetic. Good design emphasises the usefulness of a product while disregarding anything that could possibly detract from it.
Good Design Is Aesthetic : The aesthetic quality of a product is integral to its usefulness because products are used every day and have an effect on people and their well-being. Only well-executed objects can be beautiful.
Good Design Makes A Product Understandable : It clarifies the product’s structure. Better still, it can make the product clearly express its function by making use of the user’s intuition. At best, it is self-explanatory.
Good Design Is Unobtrusive : Products fulfilling a purpose are like tools. They are neither decorative objects nor works of art. Their design should therefore be both neutral and restrained, to leave room for the user’s self-expression.
Good Design Is Honest : It does not make a product more innovative, powerful or valuable than it really is. It does not attempt to manipulate the consumer with promises that cannot be kept
Good Design Is Long-lasting : It avoids being fashionable and therefore never appears antiquated. Unlike fashionable design, it lasts many years – even in today’s throwaway society.
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.
Good Design Is Environmentally Friendly : Design makes an important contribution to the preservation of the environment. It conserves resources and minimises physical and visual pollution throughout the lifecycle of the product.
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.
Have a listen to Rams discuss his work in the video below from the BBC,
Have a listen to Rams discuss his work in the video below from the BBC,
GrabMore. (2010). Dieter Rams on The Culture Show. [Online Video]. 09 June 2010. Available from:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZLMbDJ_nNfU. [Accessed: 25 May 2012].
