Dieter Rams and the Good Design Quiz

Answer: industrial design

Dieter Rams gained fame for designing a large number of consumer products, such as record players, coffee makers, calculators or audio/visual equipment. Many of his designs are displayed in museums around the world.

Answer: his grandfather was a carpenter

Dieter Rams was born May 20, 1932 in Wiesbaden, Germany. As a boy he loved to watch his grandfather at work as a carpenter. In 1947 he began studies in architecture and interior decoration at Wiesbaden School of Art and later interrupted his studies to become an apprentice carpenter.

Answer: Braun

Dieter Rams was Chief of Design for Braun from 1961 to 1995. Among many other products, he was responsible for the famous SK-4 record player and the renowned D-series of 35 mm film slide projectors.

Answer: Vitsoe

While working for Braun, he was allowed to work on side projects. One of those projects was designing the 606 Universal Shelving System for Vitsoe in 1960. This system found its way to the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New York. The corresponding chair system 620 Chair Programme (designed by Rams in 1962) is now part of the permanent collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.

Answer: Good design is related to expensive materials.

Rams introduced his ten principles of good design in the 1970s. They are:
Good design
...is innovative.
...makes a product useful.
...is aesthetic.
...makes a product understandable.
...is unobtrusive.
...is honest.
...is long-lasting.
...is thorough down to the last detail.
...is environmentally friendly.
...is as little design as possible.

Find examples and further reading on Rams' principles on http://www.vitsoe.com/gb/about/good-design

Answer: University of Fine Arts of Hamburg

Dieter Rams worked from 1981 to 1997 as a professor for industrial design at the University of Fine Arts of Hamburg. From 1987 to 1997 he presided over the German Design Council (Rat für Formgebung).

Answer: Less and More

The Less and More exhibition started in 2008 at the Suntory Museum in Osaka and moved to the Fuchu Art Museum in Tokyo, the Design Museum in London, the Museum für Angewandte Kunst (Museum of Applied Arts) in Frankfurt and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.

Answer: Snow White's coffin

In 1956 Dieter Rams worked with Hans Gugelot from the Ulm School of Design on the development of the SK4 radio and record player. They abandoned the traditional wooden cabinet and devised an industrial metal case for the SK4 with two wooden sides. The operating panel was positioned on the top next to the turntable rather than hidden away at the side.

Originally the cover was made out of metal but it turned out that it vibrated too much, so they replaced it with transparent plastic which exposed the mechanics of the record player. From the very first moment, the SK4 was a a big seller and the transparent lids became an industry standard - and the reason for the SK4's nickname - "Snow White's coffin".

Answer: Objectified

"Objectified" is the second film of the "Design Trilogy" by Gary Huswitt. The first is "Helvetica" about the famous typeface and the third and last film is "Urbanized", a film on architecture and urban design.

Answer: Frankfurt

Rams himself expressed this wish for his birthday. Braun didn't hesitate to fulfil it and gave its collection to the Museum of Applied Art of Frankfurt. The corresponding exhibition has been entitled "Less but better".