What is good design?
Dieter Rams
in conversation with Fritz Frenkler
2016
Event
discussion round
Dieter Rams, world-renowned designer and honorary professor of the Technical University of Munich, and Fritz Frenkler, head of the Institute of Industrial Design at the Technical University of Munich, discussed the significance of design at the Oskar von Miller Forum.
Dieter Rams summed up his philosophy of “less, but better” in ten design theses that have had a formative influence on generations of designers at national and international levels. “Design is essentially determined by the fact that it explains things without making it necessary to read long instructions,” says Rams. Clarity of form, truth to material and ease of use are key guiding principles of his work. Many successful designers around the world have embraced this concept of design. One of them is the British designer Jonathan Ive, responsible for all Apple products, who says that Dieter Rams is his role model and source of inspiration.
Dieter Rams und Fritz Frenkler
Dieter Rams is one of the most influential designers of the 20th century. He is credited for the groundbreaking design of Braun electrical appliances between 1961 and 1995. He argues that design is at its best when it is the result of close cooperation between entrepreneur and designer – as in his cooperation with the furniture producer Vitsoe.
The industrial designer Fritz Frenkler was manager of frog design Asia, led the wiege Wilkhahn Entwicklungsgesellschaft and was head of design of Deutsche Bahn AG. He founded f/p design deutschland gmbh together with Anette Ponholzer in 2000 and f/p design japan inc in 2003. He has been jury chairman of the iF product design award for many years and is a founding member of the Hanover-based universal design association.
I wanted to say thank you for having me here, in this fantastic building … in this building that I think is so extraordinary because it forms a symbiosis between design and architecture.
