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
My goal is to omit everything superfluous so that the essential is shown to best possible advantage.
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
All quotes →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.
Dieter RamsRead
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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Michael GravesRead
The role of designers and product makers is to really become much better editors. What kind of functionality is actually needed - and truly delightful - to consumers? Remove all the extraneous stuff.
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Designers provide ways into—and out of—the flood of words by breaking up text into pieces and offering shortcuts and alternate routes through masses of information. (...) Although many books define the purpose of typography as enhancing the readability of the written word, one of design’s most humane functions is, in actuality, to help readers avoid reading.
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We won't do something different for different's sake. Designers cave in to marketing, to the corporate agenda, which is sort of, 'Oh, it looks like the last one; can't we make it look different?' Well no, there's no reason to.
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Content precedes design. Design in the absence of content is not design, it's decoration.
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Design cannot rescue failed content.
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