Here’s an interesting article comparing Braun’s product design in the 60s with Apple’s design now. There’s a follow-up article along similar lines.
Whilst I’m sure there’s been some direct “inspiration” happening (see the calculator in the second link), I think it also highlights working to a common set of principles for what good design is – something just as relevant to us today as it was then.
When you look at the Braun products by Dieter Rams—many of them at New York’s MoMA—and compare them to Jonathan Ive’s work at Apple, you can clearly see the similarities in their philosophies way beyond the sparse use of color, the selection of materials and how the products are shaped around the function with no artificial design, keeping the design “honest.” [BC: One of my personal favourites.]
This passion for “simplicity” and “honest design” that is always declared by Ive whenever he’s interviewed or appears in a promo video, is at the core of Dieter Rams’ 10 principles for good design:
Good design:
- is innovative
- makes a product useful
- is unobtrusive
- is honest
- is durable
- is consequent to the last detail
- is concerned with the environment
- is as little design as possible
