Good design is as little design as possible

I’ve been a fan of the designer Dieter Rams and specifically his Vitsoe shelving for some time.

I hadn’t realised that the Vitsoe shelving is made in Britain (or Made by Britain as the current government campaign has it). Due to the name and the simple design approach I’d assumed a Scandanavian heritage, so there are few excuses (except for the cost) not to buy Vitsoe shelving.

On the Vitsoe website is a list of ‘ten principles of good design’, that are as good a list of design principles as I’ve found. Of the ten principles, this one struck a cord with me:

Good design 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

Applying a razor to design & seeking simplicity is certainly something that I feel I should apply to my own attempts at design.