Is the MTTR jean ‘good design’?

In the late 1970s, legendary industrial designer, Dieter Rams, was Head of Design at Braun and becoming increasingly concerned with issues around consumer culture, waste and the environment.

In 1976 he sketched out some of his thoughts in front of an audience at the Jack Lenor Larsen showroom in New York City, “There is an increasing and irreversible shortage of natural resources: raw materials, energy, food, and land. This must compel us to rationalise, especially in design. The times of thoughtless design, which can only flourish in times of thoughtless production for thoughtless consumption, are over.”

Aware that he was a significant contributor to a world of increasing consumption, he asked himself an important question: Is my design good design?

As good design cannot be measured in a finite way he set about expressing the ten most important principles for what he considered to be ‘good design’:

1. Good design is innovative.
2. Good design makes a product useful.
3. Good design is aesthetic.
4. Good design makes a product understandable.
5. Good design is unobtrusive.
6. Good design is honest.
7. Good design is long-lasting.
8. Good design is thorough down to the last detail.
9. Good design is environmentally-friendly.
10. Good design is as little design as possible.

These ten principles are perhaps more relevant than ever?

So I’ve asked the question: Is the MTTR jean ‘good design’?

—

Image
Abisag Tüllmann