Born in 1932, Dieter Rams is a German industrial designer mostly known for his work at Braun (1955-1995), and considered one of the 20th century’s most influential industrial designers, and with good reason: even today, UI designers take note of his style, and we have to look no further than iPhone’s calculator app, which seems to take a clear inspiration from the Braun ET44.

We’ve briefly mentioned Rams before, but I felt there was a need to showcase some of his work, which Bibliothèque devoted a complete exhibition featuring 244 objects:

Planned across five sections [...], the design of the exhibition utilised an array of graphic expressions – each appropriate to specific areas of curatorial content. The entrance featured an internal façade with Rams’ Vitsœ 606 compression system spanning the width of the upper gallery (approx 15×5m). Here the visual language from selected products set the tone.

It’s surprising how most of the products still seem fresh, like they were created just yesterday; that’s the beauty of Minimalsm. It saddens me, though, how modern industrial design seems focused on gimmicks and a “disposable” mentality, which explains why most of the products go out of style in less than a year. At the same time, it’s our fault as consumers, always waiting for the latest, better gadget, with a newer, shinier design.

Source: Bibliothèque Design.