Dieter Rams: Principles In Practice

I’ve written in the past about Dieter Rams, and my favourite of his 10 principles for good design - Less, But Better. Yet, practical examples of these principles in practice are tough to track down.

In Gary Hustwit’s documentary, Rams, we get a sense for how these principles applied at Braun.

• Use small logos. Don’t shout, don’t let the name of your product or brand take precedence.
• Grids are good. Specially when considering layout of letters alongside other components.
• Circles work miracles. Rounding rectangles, round components, are approachable and fun.
• Black and white. As base colours go, nothing beats #000000 and #FFFFFF.
• **Colour code. **Beyond base colours (black and white) use colour to offer component clarity.
• Everything interacts. Components should each have a role, and be dependent on others.
• No user manuals. Optimise for simplicity. If you need a 100 page manual, you’ve failed.
• Reduce to bare essentials. Remove elements that distract, or don’t assist the user’s goal.
• Provide breathing room. Offer space between components, or groups of them.

Great lessons, applicable to any sort of physical or digital product design. It took me a while to successfully watch it, but Rams is a documentary worth your time. Follow Gary Hustwit on Twitter.