Dieter Rams

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Dieter Rams (born May 20, 1932 in Wiesbaden) is a German industrial designer closely associated with the consumer products company Braun.

Rams was a key figure in the German Functionalist design renaissance of the late 1950s and 1960s. Eventually becoming head of Braun's design staff, Rams' influence in the advent of clean and simple Rationalist design was soon evidenced in many products.

Rams once explained his design approach in the phrase "Weniger, aber besser" which freely translates as "Less, but better." Rams and his staff designed many memorable products for Braun, including the famous SK-4 record player and the high-quality 'D'-series (D45, D46) of 35mm film slide projectors. He is also known for the designing the 606 Universal Shelving System by Vitsœ in 1960.

Many of his designs - wonderfully sleek coffee makers, calculators, radios, audio/visual equipment, consumer appliances, and office products - have found a permanent home at many museums over the world, including MoMA in New York. For nearly 30 years Dieter Rams served as head of design for Braun A.G. until his retirement in 1997.