Making good things better

If you ask someone in the world for the smartest engineering, for the best design, for the best products in quality and longevity. What do you think is the answer? The answer will be related to Germany.

You can talk no end about big brands, designs, and products that are converted into collectible items but there is no way you can have a serious conversation about design without mentioning Germany and its CODE (culture of design and engineers) of success. If there is one last little thing remaining in order to finalize a product, or to come up with a solution that runs well and looks good in a way of 100 per cent thinking, then German engineers and designers will get it done.

And at the end of the day it will be successful in most cases. “The details are not the details. They make the product,”Charles Eames said once. This design thinking came from a design studio in California. But nevermind that – the German-American architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe had the maxim of “Less is more” and Dieter Rams, the archetypical German designer found his own interpretation“Less is better.” Both were influenced by Bauhaus, but this is history for another day.

Dieter Rams is currently thinking about the possibilities of designing human interfaces, as are many other designers. New territories for product designers. Welcome to the flatland of design. But this particular point shows the limits. There is a “Less is better” product but the attraction stems from the functionality. The form is the entrepreneur of it and content is the added value.

But in this flow – to reach the final purpose to get some information about the next corner restaurant – you will cross several design, engineering and publicist disciplines. Each is a science in itself but only together will it become a process of mutual enrichment.
Good Design. Good Business.

By Michael Eibes, President of the Deutscher Designer Club (DDC), published in Discover Germany issue 10 – December 2013 | Photos: Bengt Fosshag

To find companies, products and organisations within the German design industry, please visit our SEARCH – The Ultimate E-Resource for German business.