Dieter Rams started out his life in Germany in the 1930s and did first begin as an apprentice carpenter, he then worked his way up as an architect and interior designer before working for Braun. It wasn’t until the 1950s and working for Braun did his interest move away from architecture and interior design and move towards the design of products.

Dieter Rams is probably most famous for his work with Braun in the 1950s and 60s, many of which can be found in the Museum of Modern Art as they are such iconic pieces of product design. His work for Braun is highly regarded as being a huge influence over Jonathan Ive who’s work on the iMac and iPod began Apple’s huge rise to fame and fortune in the late 20th century and to the present day.

Dieter Rams has a great passion for simplicity and honesty in design, people looking at Rams should also recognize his work on the “ten principles of design.”

1. Good design is innovative.

2. Good design makes a product useful.

3. Good design is aesthetic.

4. Good design helps us understand a product.

5. Good design is unobtrusive.

6. Good design is honest.

7. Good design is durable.

8. Good design is consequent to the last detail.

9. Good design is concerned with the environment.

10. Good design is as little design as possible.

The first picture is the Braun T3 pocket radio, this has the same styling characteristics as the original iPod. Its simplistic design and minimal functions showcase his design principles and this is one of my favourite Dieter Rams product. The second picture shown above is the Braun T1000 Radio heavily influential on the Powermac G5. The third picture being the Braun LE1 speaker which has the complete look and feel of the Apple iMac. Dieter Rams work ended up providing the basis for Johnathan Ive who has recycled them into new and improved design products of high quality.

Other Products Dieter Rams Designed for Braun:

Article written by Jared Thompson

Head writer of Design Something Blog, currently studying Product design at the University of Central Lancashire in his final year. He has interest in minimal, clean and simplistic design styles.

Follow Jared (@Jthompsondesign) on twitter!