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My goal is to omit everything superfluous so that the essential is shown to best possible advantage.
Dieter Rams
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Interpretation

What this quote means

The quote emphasizes the importance of simplicity in design, focusing on what truly matters.

Dieter Rams advocates for minimalism in design, suggesting that by eliminating unnecessary elements, one can highlight and enhance the essential aspects of an object or idea. This approach not only improves functionality but also brings clarity and beauty to the design, allowing users to appreciate the core purpose without distractions.

Themes

SimplicityDesignMinimalismClarityEssential

In practice

Example use cases

This quote can be used in a design presentation to emphasize the importance of minimalism.

More from Dieter Rams

Good design is thorough down to the last detail - Nothing must be arbitrary or left to chance. Care and accuracy in the design process show respect towards the consumer.
Dieter RamsRead
You cannot understand good design if you do not understand people; design is made for people.
Dieter RamsRead
Good design emphasises the usefulness of a product whilst disregarding anything that could possibly detract from it.
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Design should not dominate things, should not dominate people. It should help people. That's its role.
Dieter RamsRead
My heart belongs to the details. I actually always found them to be more important than the big picture. Nothing works without details. They are everything, the baseline of quality.
Dieter RamsRead
Things which are different in order simply to be different are seldom better, but that which is made to be better is almost always different.
Dieter RamsRead

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