I took some time out to visit the Dieter Rams exhibition at the Design Museum. Less and More: The Design Ethos of Dieter Rams is in it’s last weeks, an I wanted to take a look before it moved on or disappeared forever. I thought it might be a good place to see some of his products in the flesh and take a few photos.

I’ve been aware of Dieter Ram’s design ethos since studying product design. His ten principles of good design are taught to design students around the world, and provide a firm basis for professional industrial designers everywhere.

Dieter Rams is most famous for working with Braun for over 40 years and developing the unique style within the brand. His aim is to omit everything superfluous so that the essential is shown to the best possible advantage. The instantly recognisable result is functional products with a simple and elegant style.

The range of products Rams designed with the Braun family cover record players, radios, hair dryers, video cameras, flash guns, coffee grinders, heaters, a watch or two and many more. The open, honest and truly functional product designs each have their own qualities and individual personalities. A few of these above and below.

The exhibition at the Design Museum has been a great chance to take a closer look at the products. Many of the little details which can’t be seen in books, photographs and even within videos are clearly visible. Each of the products work on their own, or displayed within a group. It’s clear that these beautiful products have set a trend, philosophy and direction which is used by modern greats such as Jonathan Ive, Jasper Morrison and others.

If you’d like to know more, check out the design museum or Less and More: The Design Ethos of Dieter Rams the book. Exhibition is on until the 9th March 2010.

All photography by me.

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1. Decode: Digital Design Sensations Exhibition at the V&A Museum

I recently found this 15 minute TED talk about Charles and Ray Eames, in a talk by their grandson, Eames Demetrios. It’s a very short overview of the design thinking which Charles Eames adopted in his work. A very short overview of something which i found very interesting to read in a book I have – The Work of Charles and Ray Eames: A Legacy of Invention.

Unfortunately the video isn’t very long and only a short glimpse, but it’s worth while if only to catch a glimpse of the Polaroid SX-70 Land Camera in one of the videos. The video can be played using the embedded version above, or found on TED.com here: Talks The design genius of Charles + Ray Eames.

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1. Less and More: The Design Ethos of Dieter Rams at The Design Museum

I went to see Objectified the movie on Saturday at The Barbican. The film is directed by Gary Hustwit and about the relationship we have with all of the objects around us, all of which have been designed. The film takes a look at the world’s objects through various interviews with Designers, the people who originally conceive the idea and turn it into reality.

The film was at The Barbican and as I hadn’t been there before I made the mistake of presuming it would be similar to a normal cinema. I am usually careful to pick a seat about 3/4 the way from the screen and near the middle. This is so I can see the large screen and hear the sound in the best possible way. Of course, having a cinema within the Barbican Estate would of course pose limitations on height etc. The cinema is actually long and shallow (with a large possibility of someones head being in your way) so for future reference, Cimena 2 on Level 4 has an optimum seat position of only a few rows from the front.

The documentary is very interesting and offers designers and design fans a chance to see interviews with a few of the big names of the industrial world. Jonathan Ive, who rarely makes a public appearance in the UK, can be seen to explain many of the design features of the aluminium shell of the Macbook Air, iMac and Apple Keyboard and get rather lost in the process of explaining the rationale behind it. For designers it’s a chance to see the people who they have read and heard so much about actually talking about what they have made. For non-designers it’s a chance to see into a world constantly asking questions.

The film covers many different topics, but conveys the obsession that Designers have with their products very well. The film is a pleasure to watch, learning and understanding a little bit more about the designers and their products who are so well known through modern culture. Unfortunately I missed getting tickets for the London Premiere event with after show Q&A, which would have been a good chance to ask some interesting questions.

For now, we’ll just have to continue asking why.

It was nice to see the LC-A (Lomo Kompakt Automat) on the poster too!

Related posts:

1. Less and More: The Design Ethos of Dieter Rams at The Design Museum