Dieter Rams: As Little Design as Possible

Several books about Braun Design and Dieter Rams have appeared in recent years. To my knowledge, this Phaidon volume is the most comprehensive and detailed. The books I have purchased in the past were mostly comprised of black and white photographs accompanied by texts in German and English. This book, written entirely in English extensively chronicles Dieter Rams history and his involvement with Braun AG. With a forward written by Jonathan Ive, probably the designer most indebted to the mid century design of Braun AG, this book shows how the industrial designs of Dieter Rams and Braun AG have come to influence industrial designers in the time of the 2000s. The first Jo Klatt book, Braun+Design Collection has extensively pictured virtually every Braun product made, but the text is German. Less but Better, also by Klatt is written in German and English, and it recounts the rich history of Dieter Rams and Braun. However, after acquiring and reading it, I wished to know more and see more. The Phaidon book is satisfying. There are many photographs of the quintessential Rams designs, and many are in color. Also included are surprising photographs of shelves in storage rooms at Braun AG stacked with successive versions of various product. The book is beautifully designed and printed. The cover is cleverly embossed with a texture reminiscent of a Braun razor. Should one want a single book about this important desingner, Dieter Rams: As Little Design as Possible is the book to have.

A brief disclaimer: I am not a connoisseur of German design, or of Dieter Rams in particular, I just love industrial and product design. That being said, I am very much enjoying this book. It's gorgeously typeset, on beautiful paper, and the images are well chosen and represent Rams' work very well (IMO). It's a great book to just page through and discover some inspiration when you need it, and looks very smart on the shelf. A quick note about the binding: I haven't seen many books with a binding this nice. Very sturdy, functional, but with a gorgeous and subtle texture. If you appreciate beautiful craftsmanship, I'd wager you'll appreciate this book.

Wow and just wow! A mustbread if yiu want to learn about the works of Ram and his way of thinking from a design and utility of products perspective. It is a greatbook and worth every single penny.

It has his history, it has detailed descriptions about the work, it has full and detail shots of the products, it has his codified design philosophy... It's a big, thick, beautifully designed book. Fellow designers, don't you just love books that are well bound, have beautiful layouts, artful typography and big, beautiful color photos? Yeah, me too. This has all of that. Frankly, I wish all my art books were this good and cost this little. This is a $150 art book. I don't know how they're selling it for less. Could not be happier.

Llegó muy bien empacado, impecable

Timeless design advices and stories.

This book is fantastic! Beautifully made and chock-full of great into. I own a web design firm and I am finding a lot of design inspiration both through imagery and philosophy presented within these pages. And did I mention it is a beautiful book?

If you aspire to fill your world with beautiful things then get this book. The only problem is that Dieter Rams stuff is very expensive and if you want to possess such objects of immaculate design you will have to pay for it. How ever the book and Dieter Rams process are ones that should be aspired to by more designeres in our world.

Really excellent book if you are interested in Industrial Design of mostly household products. Some very cool looking audio equipment. Have amazon prime but unfortunately they use Purolator so it was a week late !

A lovely book, and a great well rounded look at the work of Dieter Rams and the teams around him. Very interesting look at Braun and the culture that allowed Rams to flourish. A beautiful book, great images, good writing. Recommended for anyone remotely interested in Rams work or the period covered.

ディーター・ラムスのデザインの10か条がいいなと思ってこの本を見つけて買ってみた。大きくて厚くとても重いが、モノとしてラムスが手掛けた製品のような雰囲気があって好きになった。アップルのジョナサン・アイヴが序文。

Ótimo conteúdo e design.

Great book lots of detail. Had to be returned as Amazon woefully packaged the box. The book is heavy and fragile. Amazon warehouse threw it into a large book and sent it off. Arrived with all book corners damaged, spine damage also. Can't believe Amazon don't train their staff to package heavy & fragile items with care. Book needed to be packed in a heavy duty box, and wrapped it bubble wrap or similar to cushion it from DHL's rough handling. This is the second time I've had problems with Amazon's cheap and inadequate packaging...waste of time purchasing precious and fragile items through Amazon...