For more than sixty years Dieter Rams has defined the look, feel, and function of some of the world’s best-loved consumer items.
Order worked with London-based publisher Phaidon to design The Complete Works, a visual compendium of every product designed by Dieter and his team.
Using his “ten principles for good design” as a philosophy and practice for improving the industry in a more holistic, responsible way, Dieter Rams has built a reputation with global resonance.
Dieter Rams, c. 1970s. Photograph by Abisag Tüllman.
Various products. Designed by Dieter Rams.
Images courtesy Phaidon→, from The Complete Works.
Dieter and Ingeborg Kracht-Rams’ home. Kronberg, Germany.
For the book’s typographic language, we investigated product labeling.
Two observations led us to a recommendation: a sans serif grotesque set in all lowercase.
A custom cut of Universal Sans→ was developed to create Rams 569, named after one of Dieter’s most notable products, the 569 Programme Table, designed in 1956.
The number relates to the weight of the typeface, which is 569 points.
The orange-red cover is a reference to the often-used color in Dieter’s work, one of the very few hues that emerge beyond black, gray, and white.
Here, for the first time, is a catalogue raisonné of every product that Rams has designed in his lifetime.
Dieter Rams, 2016. Photo by Gary Hustwit, director and producer of Rams→.