Dieter Rams’ 10 Commandments for Designers Who Still Care

Scott Ellis
May 30
3 min read

Dieter Rams is considered one of the most important figures in the development of industrial design, having stipulated long-lasting design principles.

Considered one of design’s world geniuses, Dieter Rams‘ four-decade work for Braun and British company Vitsoe has made him a living icon.

Artists and designers all around the globe follow his 10 Principles of Good Design, which continue to inspire a whole generation even today.

Dieter Rams design ethos was very clearly codified by himself in ten legendary principles for good design:

Good design is innovative
Good design makes a product useful
Good design is aesthetic
Good design makes a product understandable
Good design is unobtrusive
Good design is honest
Good design is long-lasting
Good design is thorough down to the last detail
Good design is environmentally friendly
Good design is as little design as possible

1. Good Design is Innovative

Not gimmicky. Not viral. Innovative.Innovation means solving real problems in ways that feel obvious, but only after you see it. Rams didn’t invent features. He stripped things down until the real breakthrough showed up.

2. Good Design Makes a Product Useful

Use > beauty.Your job isn’t to impress. It’s to help. If someone can’t use it, intuitively, without a PhD, it’s broken. Function is the foundation. Always.

3. Good Design is Aesthetic

But beauty still matters. Rams didn’t do ugly. He just didn’t chase flash.Aesthetic isn’t decoration it’s harmony. The kind that invites you in, quietly.

4. Good Design Makes a Product Understandable

If you need a manual, it’s not finished.Design should explain itself. Labels help. Hierarchy helps more. But true clarity comes from making every part do what it looks like it should do.

5. Good Design is Unobtrusive

Your product shouldn’t scream. It should live with the user, not dominate them. Rams believed great design fades into the background until the moment it’s needed. That’s power.

6. Good Design is Honest

No fake features. No inflated claims. No lies wrapped in polish. Don’t make something look like it does more than it does. Respect the user enough to tell the truth in every curve, every click.

7. Good Design is Long-Lasting

Trendy is cheap. Timeless is hard.Good design isn’t meant to be replaced every six months. It’s meant to live, adapt, stay relevant, quietly, reliably.

8. Good Design is Thorough Down to the Last Detail

Sweat the small stuff.The edge radius. The tab order. The hover state. The way the door clicks shut.Every overlooked detail is a message: we stopped caring right here. Don’t let that happen.

9. Good Design is Environmentally Friendly

Rams was talking sustainability before it was cool.Use fewer materials. Design for repair. Build things that last. Your work shouldn’t end up in a landfill or a dump of unused features.

10. Good Design is As Little Design as Possible

This is the one that hits hardest.Restraint.Remove what doesn’t need to be there. Then remove more. Don’t show off. Don’t add noise. Get to the point, then stop.

Dieter Rams’ designs embody the beauty of true simplicity and modesty.

His products were made to improve people’s lives, not to showcase his own glory.

The designer’s work could happily sit in the background without trying to attract attention. Still, it looks so good you can’t help but want to look at it!

Did you know that Rams was the first to get rid of instruction manuals?

In fact, the renowned designer can be proud of being the author of many firsts.

While many industrial modernists have already left our world, Dieter Rams is still alive and working.

For more than 50 years, he has made an indelible mark on product design.

His legacy continues to live even today and encourages young designers to create products that are innovative, functional, long-lasting, and, of course, aesthetic.

We can certainly learn from Dieter Rams and his principle of ‘Less, but better, especially nowadays, when sustainability has become increasingly important.