Dieter Rams, the legendary designer at Braun, worked from a simple belief: almost everything is noise. Very few things are essential.
His job was to filter through that noise until he reached the essence.
Early in his career, he was asked to help design a record player. At the time, the norm was to encase it in a heavy wooden lid or build it into a piece of living room furniture.
Instead, Rams and his team removed the clutter. They designed a player with a clear plastic cover and nothing more.
It was so different that people worried it might bankrupt the company.
But it didn’t.
Over time, it became the standard that every other record player followed.
Rams' philosophy can be captured in three words: Weniger aber besser.
Less but better.
