Wookyoung Kim · February 19, 2026
Dieter Rams: Design by Vitsœ
I translated a lecture by Dieter Rams, my favorite industrial designer.
I dare say it captures the essence of Less, but Better: focusing on what is essential and stripping away what is unnecessary.
Dieter Rams: Design by Vitsœ
A lecture delivered in December 1976 at Jack Lenor Larsen's New York showroom.
As a designer, the philosophy I pursue must align with the goals of the company. This principle applies equally to my work at Braun and to my work at Vitsœ. I have worked with these two companies for about 20 years, and one point I would like to emphasize is that I have worked only with these two companies.
Design, at least as I understand it, is not something that can be done by someone outside a company. I am especially convinced of this in a case like Vitsœ, where products are designed within one larger system.
In 1957, I began developing a shelving system, and on that foundation Vitsœ was established in 1959. My design philosophy is therefore rooted deeply in the company.
Today, design is a subject of great interest. That is only natural: in an increasingly competitive environment, design is often the only difference a buyer can actually perceive.
I am convinced that carefully considered design determines the quality of a product. Poorly designed products are not only less pleasant to look at than well-designed ones; they are also inferior in value and usefulness. In worse cases, they become an irritation in the user's life.
I believe the development and change we have led through our work at Vitsœ have also made a positive contribution to the broader movement of good design.
Introducing good design is essential to a company's success. But the 'success' we mean may differ from what you have in mind. The pursuit of good design also has social significance, above all because it rigorously reduces waste.
So what is good design? Product design is the total composition of a product, encompassing form, color, materials, and structure. A product must function efficiently according to its original purpose.
A designer who wants to achieve good design should not see himself as an artist who dresses a product at the last moment according to taste or aesthetic sensibility.
A designer must be a 'Gestaltingenieur,' a creative engineer. He must be someone who synthesizes the many elements that make up design and shapes them into a finished product. A designer's work is mostly a rational process, and aesthetic judgment must also be grounded in a deep understanding of the product's purpose.
I am convinced that people are interested in what we do at Vitsœ because our products are practical. I also hope that people value the aesthetic qualities that follow from that. These qualities are the result of progressive, intelligent problem solving.
Functionality must be at the center of good design. A product must be functional in itself, but it must also work well as part of a larger system: the home. Vitsœ's 606 Universal Shelving System succeeded because of its outstanding functionality and its flexibility in adapting to any environment. Vitsœ furniture does not call attention to itself. Next to any designer's furniture, in a home from any period, it quietly does its job.
We strive to make products like this not for mere consumers, but for intelligent, responsible users who consciously choose things they can truly use. Good design must be able to coexist with other things.
If you do not understand people, you cannot understand good design. Design is made for people. Design must be ergonomically sound, which means it must be in harmony with the human body's abilities, proportions, senses, and ways of perceiving.
Because Vitsœ has communicated directly with customers, we have been able to develop a deep understanding of people. Over many years, our understanding of how people use shelves and armchairs has also become much richer. Around the world, our passionate and conscientious staff know how to design systems by proposing configurations that customers may not have thought of at first.
Order and proportion: a product needs order in order to be useful
Every object that is used must have a clear order. The remarkable order embedded in Vitsœ design exists to communicate the object's function to the user. The design of Vitsœ products clearly shows their purpose and use, and makes them easier to use.
The arrangement, form, size, and color of the elements are all based on a thoroughly planned system. This system is the language of Vitsœ design.
But this order is not an end in itself. It can hardly be called an ideology. It arises from practical necessity. If design is to be understood by everyone, as good design ought to be, it must be as simple as possible.
Vitsœ's design brings every individual element into a single proportion. The qualities often mentioned in the Vitsœ collection are precisely its sense of balance, harmony, and the feeling that everything belongs together. Every structure, component, and finish comes together as one well-tuned design to create usability.
Most products we encounter in everyday life try to shout for attention, or overwhelm us by being enormous or extremely small. Such objects force their relationship with us on their own terms. Good design creates objects with balanced proportions, allowing us to form a deep and lasting relationship with them. At Vitsœ, we go one step further: we seek to create objects that have balanced proportions in relation to people.
For me, good design means as little design as possible
Using design to make something look important, to decorate its surface, or to make it appear sophisticated is not design. It is packaging.
When we focus on the essential elements of design and remove everything unnecessary, form changes in this way: it becomes quiet, comfortable, easy to understand, and above all, long-lasting.
Vitsœ products are constantly evolving. We do not confine products to the manufacturing technologies available at the time they were designed. Adaptability is built into the language of Vitsœ products: adaptability to the user in the home, and adaptability in design and manufacturing.
We constantly seek newer and better technical solutions for our products. Because technology and production processes are always advancing, innovation is not only possible; it is necessary if we are to continue being recognized for good design.
From experience, we know that people are more willing than ever to change their way of living. They accept genuine innovation, not imitation, and with our products they can move beyond long-established habits. People expect such innovative solutions, especially from Vitsœ.
The environment around us is changing rapidly. How will these changes affect our concept of design? Should design that claims long-term validity merely respond to current circumstances, or should it look ahead and move in advance of the future?
In a well-proportioned space, we feel more comfortable and even think differently. A neglected, uncared-for landscape affects our lives in a completely different way from a natural, ordered one. There is still much work to be done on how the physical environment acts on our psychology. This is the work we do at Vitsœ.
But today Vitsœ makes only furniture. There are larger questions we must answer about how the urban environment affects individuals and society. For example, what effects do transmission towers, high-rise buildings, highways, streetlights, and parking lots have on our minds and relationships? We already know that people living in uniform concrete buildings can become depressed because of their surroundings. But is anyone studying these problems systematically? Who is really taking all of this seriously?
Future generations will shudder at the indifference with which we are now indiscriminately filling our homes, cities, and landscapes with all kinds of clutter. How resignedly indifferent we are to the effects these things have. How many terrible things we endure. And yet we are only half aware of them.
This complex situation is worsening, and it may be difficult to reverse. There is no longer any such thing as an independent action. Everything affects everything else and depends on something else. We must think more deeply about what we are doing, how we are doing it, and why we are doing it.
In fact, the collapse of the entire system may be close at hand.
So far I have spoken about our surrounding environment, but let us widen our view and look at the world we live in. The shortage of natural resources--raw materials, energy, food, land--is becoming more severe and irreversible. This reality demands rationalization from us, especially in the field of design. The age of thoughtless design, which could thrive only amid thoughtless consumption for thoughtless production, is over. We can no longer afford to be thoughtless.
The complexity of the system and the shortage of natural resources must bring about a change not only in individual attitudes but in the attitude of society as a whole. We learn as individuals, and we learn collectively. We have begun to understand, little by little, the changes that are only now coming into view. We must watch these changes with increasing sobriety and, hopefully, with increasing awareness and reason.
If we at Vitsœ have made even a small contribution to intelligent and responsible design, and to a higher standard of objects, I believe much of the credit should go to one person: Niels Vitsœ, for his selfless passion and unwavering consistency. At the same time, I also want to thank all the employees who feel they have done something more than simply produce another short-lived consumer good.
Good design becomes reality! Good design is a reality!