Braun: Designed to Keep is a book worth holding onto

Every entity made by humans has a communicative to tell. There’s nan communicative of nan group who made it, of nan materials chosen, and nan imaginative motivation. Only erstwhile you understand nan communicative do you understand an object’s meaning. Or truthful says Dieter Rams, who headed up merchandise creation astatine Braun from 1961 to 1995.

Braun: Designed to Keep is nan communicative of Braun. It’s billed arsenic “the astir broad history” of nan institution to date. Telling it requires much than 400 pages and 500 images, including never-before-published archival materials and brand-new full-page photography of Braun’s astir iconic products, each instilled pinch Rams’ “less, but better” attack that would straight power designers for illustration Naoto Fukasawa and Apple’s Jony Ive. 

What’s astir striking arsenic I thumbed done an precocious transcript is really desirable galore of those early Braun products stay today, immoderate of which were introduced almost 70 years ago. No surprise, I guess, fixed nan disposable detritus you’ll find connected Amazon and AliExpress, places wherever merchandise creation prostrates itself to nan gods of wide depletion and devices alteration pinch flourishes of useless decoration usually reserved for nan Walmart cereal aisle. 

I mean, conscionable look astatine nan TP1 (1959) successful nan image below, nan portable predecessor to nan Walkman that worked arsenic a power and besides played records from nan bottommost for illustration a Miniot turntable, and nan T3 transistor power (1958) that surely provided Ive pinch immoderate inspiration for nan iPod’s click instrumentality interface: 

Have you ever been stopped successful your tracks by a array fan? Just look astatine nan HL1, which first made its quality successful 1961:

Braun really excelled astatine Hi-Fi, and this wall portion designed successful nan mid-1960s was what space-age surviving was each about:

Braun: Designed to Keep is published by Phaidon and written by Professor Klaus Klemp, nan German creation historiographer and curator who has spent nan past 2 decades cautiously documenting nan activity of Dieter Rams done awesome exhibitions and books for illustration Dieter Rams: The Complete Works. If a group of experts has gathered location connected nan globe to talk nan bequest of Braun aliases Rams, you tin stake that Klemp was invited.

Another point I really enjoyed while flipping done it was noting nan size and placement of nan Braun logo — first introduced pinch nan raised “A” successful 1935. In Rams, nan fantabulous 2018 documentary directed by Gary Hustwit (which besides features Klemp), nan acclaimed designer, past connected nan cusp of his 86th day (now 91), says he ever wanted nan Braun logo to beryllium mini and unobtrusive — a conflict he fought pinch astatine slightest 10 CEOs, by his account, each of whom wanted nan wordmark printed loudly connected each Braun product.

“When you’re caller someplace and you person to present yourself, aliases participate a room and opportunity ‘I’m truthful and so,’ you don’t shout. You should do it quietly,” said Rams successful Rams. “If each merchandise shouts ‘I americium Braun!’ it will get irritating.” This makes consciousness erstwhile you understand Rams’ dedication to nan creation of a communal creation connection during his 4 decades astatine nan company.

In summation to endless gadget porn, nan book besides intends to correct a fewer things astir Braun creation for nan humanities grounds — namely, that Rams had help. That’s not a arguable position. Although Rams’ personality is truthful intertwined pinch nan institution that he’s been mistakenly (or jokingly) called Mr. Braun astatine times, he’s nan first personification to punctual group that executing nan company’s creation strategy was ever a squad effort. Designed to Keep attempts to group nan grounds consecutive by giving in installments wherever in installments is due. 

The immense mostly of nan book deals pinch nan Braun we celebrate, not tolerate, pinch plentifulness of history to reference anytime you want to amended understand really nan company’s reasoning evolved.

Braun: Designed to Keep starts aft World War I, erstwhile Max Braun founded nan institution successful Frankfurt, Germany, successful 1921, conscionable arsenic Bauhaus creation — and its accent connected usability — was taking guidelines and Braun was making radios and phonographs. Braun’s sons joined nan institution successful 1945 aft World War II. Artur Braun was a talented technologist and provided input connected nan S50 electrical barren shaver. It launched successful 1950 and quickly became nan company’s astir profitable product, lifting Braun arsenic a awesome of post-war reconstruction and description efforts.

But it was his brother, Erwin Braun, who, successful nan 1950s, began gathering a group of colleagues to nutrient appliances “in nan style of our times,” says Klemp. Lacking nan skills himself, Erwin entered into a very successful commercialized business pinch nan Hochschule für Gestaltung (HfG) Ulm betwixt 1956 and 1963. Otl Aicher, an Ulm schoolhouse founder, and Hans Gugelot, who taught merchandise creation there, were cardinal partners who “without a uncertainty greatly influenced nan creation mindset astatine Braun successful nan mid-1950s,” says Klemp. Rams joined Braun connected July 15th, 1955, arsenic an interior designer, earlier rising to lead Braun’s first soul creation squad successful 1961, pinch Reinhold Weiss arsenic his deputy. But according to Artur, his relative Erwin was “the existent begetter of Braun Design.” 

Credit tin besides beryllium seen connected each merchandise photograph, which includes a caption naming nan original designer and nan day it was first produced. Spoiler: not each celebrated Braun creation is simply a Dieter Rams design. The book ends pinch 60 biographies successful a conception titled “Design is made by people.” 

The book is laid retired chronologically, but nan full-page photography (and nan author) encourages nan scholar to flip astir casually, bouncing betwixt products and nan profiles of each designer and past their influences passim nan company’s 102-year history. Navigation gets an assistance pinch a broad scale that besides identifies which pages person illustrations, alongside a glossary that helps readers make consciousness of Braun’s cryptic merchandise names.

Fittingly, Rams’ “Ten Principles of Good Design” — first articulated successful 1985 and steeped successful Bauhaus traditions later refined by nan Ulm school’s knowing of exertion and business accumulation — autumn almost precisely halfway into nan book. Whether it was nan author’s intent, it neatly divides nan history of Braun on a clear demarcation of earlier and aft Dieter Rams. Perhaps his azygous astir influential and well-known rule is number 10:

In 1995, Dieter Rams was pushed retired of his creation activity domiciled by a head from Gillette — which had purchased Braun successful 1967 — who demanded much “emotionalization” from nan merchandise portfolio, according to Klemp. Rams was conscionable 2 years distant from status and fixed an elaborate yet meaningless (he had nary nonstop reports) caller title of executive head of firm identity. He near Braun successful 1997, conscionable arsenic Braun’s “less, but better” ethos shape-shifted into “more, and worse.” 

While nan location of Braun gave commencement to Rams’ 10 creation principles, it was Apple, and much specifically Steve Jobs and Jony Ive, who afloat embraced them from nan mid-1990s onward, starting pinch nan iMac (1998), iPod (2001), and yes, nan iPhone (2007), which was a marvel of simplicity and usability astatine launch. In 2009, Rams said, “Today you find only a fewer companies that return creation seriously, arsenic I spot it, and, astatine nan infinitesimal that is an American company. It is Apple.” Notably, he did not opportunity Braun.

Just 41 pages of Braun: Designed to Keep are, understandably, dedicated to nan Braun of today. After all, it wasn’t until 2010 that Procter & Gamble — which purchased Gillette successful 2005 and had witnessed Apple’s bonzer world occurrence — reverted to a “Past Forward” clasp of Braun’s ain creation legacy. Klemp says that 2012’s Braun Series 5 shavers were 1 of nan first products to embody this reinterpretation. Which, well, fine. 

This shaver from 2020 does look to hew intimately to early Braun designs:

Designed to Keep makes a valiant effort to chronicle nan Braun of today, covering mistakes and setbacks and, much recently, reinventions, while suggesting it could again power an manufacture pinch its innovations. Maybe, but nan book’s entreaty is unquestionably successful looking backward, and location are benefits successful doing that for Braun and nan full user electronics industry. 

“New creation ever stands connected nan shoulders of its predecessors and, successful nan champion cases, learns not only from insights gleaned during nan imaginative process but besides from nan incorrect turns taken,” contends Klemp. “Only Gods tin execute ‘creation ex nihilo,’ aliases nutrient thing from nothing.” 

Designed to Keep gives meaning to nan communicative of Braun by showing really generations of group drew inspiration from some past and existent events to create products pinch sustained appeal. Such longevity is unheard of today, pinch fashionable creation trends colluding pinch package and electronics connected a accelerated way to merchandise obsolescence, planned aliases not.

The title — Designed to Keep — tin besides beryllium publication arsenic an instruction. It’s a book you’ll want to support astir arsenic a reference for nan adjacent clip a caller merchandise launches and you think, “Now wherever person I seen that before?” 

Braun: Designed to Keep is disposable to acquisition now for $79.95 /€69.95.