Dieter Ram's Watch

Dieter Rams, patron saint of modern industrial design and design philosophy, is someone who I respect tremendously.  You don't see much of his original work these days, but if you've ever owned anything ever built by Apple, and liked it, you are [indirectly] enjoying the legacy of Dieter Rams.  During his time at Braun--the German consumer products company--Rams was responsible for some of the most innovative and beautiful design work of the 20th century.

Tortoiseshell, horn-rimmed glasses.  Design is serious business.  Don't screw around.

Rams' best-known legacy, however, is his design philosophy: the 10 principles of design.  They are a set of clear guidelines as to what good design is, and what it should accomplish.  According to Rams, design is far more than making things look good: it about making high quality products with functionality and clean, timeless beauty.

Every person should know the 10 principles of design.

Good Design:

1. Is innovative - The possibilities for progression are not, by any means, exhausted. Technological development is always offering new opportunities for original designs. But imaginative design always develops in tandem with improving technology, and can never be an end in itself.
2. Makes a product useful - A product is bought to be used. It has to satisfy not only functional, but also psychological and aesthetic criteria. Good design emphasizes the usefulness of a product whilst disregarding anything that could detract from it.
3. Is aesthetic - The aesthetic quality of a product is integral to its usefulness because products are used every day and have an effect on people and their well-being. Only well-executed objects can be beautiful.
4. Makes a product understandable - It clarifies the product’s structure. Better still, it can make the product clearly express its function by making use of the user's intuition. At best, it is self-explanatory.
5. Is unobtrusive - Products fulfilling a purpose are like tools. They are neither decorative objects nor works of art. Their design should therefore be both neutral and restrained, to leave room for the user's self-expression.
6. Is honest - It does not make a product appear more innovative, powerful or valuable than it really is. It does not attempt to manipulate the consumer with promises that cannot be kept.
7. Is long-lasting - It avoids being fashionable and therefore never appears antiquated. Unlike fashionable design, it lasts many years – even in today's throwaway society.
8. 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.
9. Is environmentally friendly - Design makes an important contribution to the preservation of the environment. It conserves resources and minimizes physical and visual pollution throughout the lifecycle of the product.
10. Is as little design as possible - Less, but better – because it concentrates on the essential aspects, and the products are not burdened with non-essentials. Back to purity, back to simplicity.

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I've been in the market for a new watch lately.   Actually, I've been looking for a long time, but only recently have I had the money to consider getting one.  For a long time I was looking into the watches made by Uniform Wares.  They're a relatively new company from the UK that is gaining traction with their minimalist designs.  They have slick designs with a youthful edge.  Although I like their designs, I think the watch--in it's hyper-reduced form--is one step too far into 'minimalism,' hindering the watch's functionality and timelessness, rather than adding to it.  

Uniform Wares 100 Series 

I also looked into a watch my uncle has owned for a long time: the Mondaine Swiss Railway Watch.  It comes in a few different variations--all of them about as utilitarian as watches come. Maybe too much so.  The line of watches is based on the clocks found in swiss railroad stations, and it's made to be extremely clean and legible.  But even for me, this is an austere watch.  

Mondaine Swiss Railway Watch

But with Dieter Ram's home team company, Braun, I think I've found what I'm after.  The Braun BN0032 Steel Range is a beautifully-designed watch at a reasonable price.  It retails for $200, but I'm seeing new ones on ebay for $150--which, for serious mens' watches, is a good price.  

For me, this watch is pure design porn.  

With the white bezel and touches of red and yellow on the date window and minute hand, it's a watch that feels airy, modern and upbeat.  Unlike an all-black watch, or a watch with a numberless face, this watch doesn't feel serious or aggressive.  Although it's a touch formal with a metal mesh band, it isn't pretentious or overdressed.  It has a kind of quiet, restrained stylishness, and will probably still look excellent 20 years from now.  It is Dieter Ram's kind of watch. 

Lagom in every respect; yust perfect.  

Now I just need to get one...

Lovin' (Philosophy on Mr. Oizo)

Downloaded Mr. Oizo's newest EP today.  At under 10 minutes, it is certainly a bit of a tease.  But it's free, and free is hard to argue with.  It has a lot of the great Oizo flavor you'd expect, and even features an odd appearance by Marilyn Manson on one of the tracks.  "Amicalement," the title, apparently means something like "playfully," or "in a friendly manner" in French.  But french is notoriously hard to translate (Just ask Maman), so don't quote me on it.

Mr. Oizo's tracks have a way of always being a little bit too short.  They're like those fancy dishes you find in modern restaurants that are way too small.  By the time you can even get a taste, it's over.

But in a way, it's the only way Oizo's more radical tracks could every work.  I'm sure if you stretched out any of his more ridiculous interludes to four minutes, they'd sound terrible, and would be too repetitive to enjoy.  His music is dadaist.  It flirts with absurdity.  His tracks are jarring, organic, noise-collages.  Half modern art, half music.  The fact that they leave you wanting more makes them that much more enjoyable.

The fact that many of his songs are incomplete reminds me of something I saw in a TED talk.  It's a quote taken from the Japanese Essays in Idleness:

"In everything...uniformity is undesirable.  Leaving something incomplete makes it interesting and gives one the feeling that there is room for growth...Even when building the imperial palace, they always leave one room unfinished."

Mr Oizo often leaves things unfinished.