A Sponsored Post on the History of Braun Design
In the early 1920s, company founder Max Braun had made his entrepreneurial start by manufacturing radio componentry. By 1929 the canny Braun was producing complete radio sets of his own design. In 1934, the "A" in the center of the Braun logo (above) was shaped to resemble their art-deco-styled Cosmophon 333 radio (below).
As was and is the Braun hallmark, technical sophistication married with innovative design would mark the category. As early as 1932, Max Braun had created a combination radio-phonograph, this at a time when radios with a built-in speaker was still a fairly new idea.
But it wasn't until the mid-1950s that the company, under the stewardship of Max's sons Erwin and Artur, began forming a proper design department combining the foci of several talented individuals. Through their collaboration, drive, and relentless experimentation, the company began producing audio goods that moved firmly into what we would later think of as MoMA territory. And they would take some wild chances along the way.
1955
SK 1
Artur Braun, Fritz Eichler
This design storm began around 1955, with Artur Braun and Fritz Eichler's SK 1 tabletop radio. The relatively tiny device could be placed on a windowsill and was a sharp departure from the gaudy visual clutter of other radios of the era. There was a dial and two unlabeled control knobs set into one side of a rational grid of dots for the speaker, and the barest hint of fins on the bottom for the device to stand on. (The grid of dots, by the way, would appear time and again in a variety of Braun products of all categories.)
Image courtesy of Das Programm, specialist sellers of Braun Design, 1955–1995
1955
G 11
Hans Gugelot
While the SK 1 was radical, the company had still not yet given up on the idea of using wooden-bodied radios, as was the fashion of previous decades. But Hans Gugelot's sleek G 11 design deviated wildly from the baroque "music furniture" that consumers were familiar with. It also contained a design innovation that would come to influence the product category: The side edges were completely flat and the same dimensions top and bottom. If a consumer purchased the corresponding G 12 turntable, they could stack it atop the G 11.
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A Sponsored Post on the History of Braun Design
Every student of industrial design ought study Braun's line of timepieces. The sheer variety and innovation, on both the design and technical fronts, that the company was able to inject into something as simple as a time-telling device is staggering; Braun was obsessing over minute bevels and visual clarity years before smartphone manufacturers sought to differentiate one glass rectangle from another. The ability to so resoundingly distinguish a small circle on your wrist from other offerings on the marketplace is a testament to Braun's unrivaled championing of industrial design. Many of the objects they created have a quality of inevitableness to them, as if they had chipped away at all distractions and arrived at a universally perfect product, with nothing anyone could possibly add—or subtract—to improve them. Yet they continually updated their offerings for more than two decades, with a deep product line-up that would keep many a design curator busy.
On the subject of curation: The fact that every industrial design student does not study Braun's timepieces is probably because no one has compiled a comprehensive record of all of them. While we attempt to address that here, there are many models that we missed for want of images or information. The line is simply too large, the rare models too elusive. But we hope this will provide you with some sense of the deep mark that Braun made on what was formerly a staid product category.
Image courtesy of Das Programm, specialist sellers of Braun Design, 1955–1995
1971
phase 1
Dieter Rams, Dietrich Lubs
Braun's first clock was the relatively primitive phase 1. Clearly a first effort, it gave no hint as to the breadth of design variety to come. It featured numbers printed on little plaques attached to a mechanical rotating mechanism. That being the case, the body was large while the numbers were small; a trade-off the designers would not be willing to live with for long.
1972
phase 2
Dietrich Lubs
By 1972 they had switched over to a flip-clock mechanism, whose tighter mechanicals enabled a smaller form and a larger display. In the phase 2 we see the design team gaining mastery over the technology in order to improve the user experience. But they were not done yet; this form factor was still driven by its mechanical innards, which they would soon discard altogether. Cutting-edge technology was in the works for what would be their radical release of 1975.
1972
phase 3
Dietrich Lubs
At the same time they put the phase 2 on the market, Braun also dipped into the analog clock pool, releasing this compact phase 3 alarm clock. It bears virtually nothing in common with the phase 1 and phase 2, despite being released at nearly the same time; but it illustrates the design team's freedom to experiment, a characteristic Braun quality that would pay off time and again. The analog form factor would evolve into objects that collectors would treasure.
Image courtesy of Das Programm, specialist sellers of Braun Design, 1955–1995
1975
functional
Dietrich Lubs
By 1975 Braun's gorgeous functional was ready to go. As the mechanicals were now supplanted by eletronics, it no longer featured bulky innards that needed to be stuffed into a box; Dietrich Lubs took full advantage of this, creating a clock comprised of two slim, intersecting components. The rear, horizontal portion houses the circuit boards and supports the buttons (which were raised, so they could be located in the dark). The front portion held the gas discharge display, which was angled upwards for easy legibility.
Also note the self-restraint: The sleek, black display with its slick red numbers would have looked cluttered with the white Braun logo, so instead the logo was moved behind the screen, to the top of the unit.
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A Sponsored Post on the History of Braun Design
Clockwise from top: Josh Rigg won our "Good Design Is Long Lasting" competition back in 2011 with this drawing of the Sixtant BN (1967); Cassett (1970); Sixtant Color (1971); Silk-épil EE-1 (1989); SM5 Commander (1963)... read on for more on each one
Shaving has been around for a long time. In the 4th Century B.C. Alexander the Great, an early proponent of shaving, ordered his troops to do it. Alexander had observed that beards were a martial liability for soldiers; if you didn't remove your own facial hair, your opponent would do it for you—by using your beard to grab your face.
Two dozen centuries later, in 1930s Germany, a fellow named Max Braun was also concerned with removing men's facial hair, though in a more civilized manner: Using precision-machined blades and a small electric motor. Using an electric machine rather than water and lather to shave your face was a fairly new concept, with the electric razor having been invented only the decade before in America; but Braun knew he had the technological know-how to produce a competitive device.
That was because Braun was already on the cutting edge, if you'll pardon the pun, of manufacturing; he'd been running his own successful engineering and manufacturing firm since 1921, cranking out radio components and eventually, entire radio sets. By the late 1930s Braun had completed his own novel design for an electric razor, and worked out how it would be produced. Unfortunately, there was also a war brewing, and all German industry was shortly pressed into miltary service. Braun's electric razor was shelved for the time being. Whereas war had promoted shaving in Alexander's time, during Braun's, it temporarily sidetracked it.
Nevertheless Braun stuck to his goals, and rebuilt his factory after it was destroyed in the war. By the late 1940s he had rebuilt his operation, and by 1950, he finally embarked on his mission to see the world filled with clean-shaven men using Braun products. The innovations his company spawned changed men's shaving forever.
Let's start at the beginning.
1950
S 50
Max Braun
The S 50, Braun's first electric razor, was an auspicious start for the category. Max Braun had developed a key design innovation: Whereas competitor's models had a comb-like metal layer that shielded the user's skin from the blades beneath it, the S 50 featured a thin, perforated metal foil that covered the cutting blades. When the user placed this surface against his face, his facial hair went through the holes and was trimmed by the blades. This foil was thinner than the metal combs on incumbent devices from Schick and Remington, and therefore provided a closer shave. It was a clear-cut case of superior design and better manufacturing techniques providing a better product, and Braun's foil innovation in shavers persists to the current day.
1951
S 52
Max Braun, Artur Braun
Though the S 50 was a hit, Max Braun was not a man to rest on his laurels; working with youngest son Artur, who had apprenticed in the engineering department of the company, they quickly followed up with the S 52. It featured a wider shaving head, a more powerful motor and an aluminum casing. Sadly, Max Braun passed away shortly after completing this design.
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Posted by
core jr | 5 Mar 2013
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With a record number of submissions from 73 nations, designers answered the challenge "Genius design for a better everyday." The BraunPrize 2012 embraces the increased relevance of well-designed products that help improve all aspects of everyday life. With most people's daily challenges becoming increasingly complex and demanding, we rely on ubiquitous technology, highly connected social structures and our ability to cope with a fast, 24/7 lifestyle.
Our everyday has become an artificial environment of architecture and technology and while it seems that the quantity of products around us is consistently increasing, their level of quality is not. We have surrounded ourselves by many things we don´t really value, instead of focusing on fewer but better solutions to help us live our lives. With this in mind, the BraunPrize 2012 is looking for ingenious solutions and product ideas to make our everyday a better place.
Established in 1968, the BraunPrize was Germany's first international design prize. It was originally introduced by Erwin Braun, son of Braun founder Max Braun, and the goal was to stimulate public debate about design, "during a time when understanding and awareness of design and its positive benefits were largely unknown." This year's program was juried by Oliver Grabes (Head of Braun Design and Core77 Design Awards Consumer Products Jury Captain), Naoto Fukasawa (Founder of Naoto Fukasawa Design), Jane Fulton Suri (Managing Partner and Creative Director at IDEO), Anne Bergner (BraunPrize Winner 1999 and Design Consultant) and Dirk Freund (Director R&D, Global Braun).
Core77 was invited to be part of a special jury team of 80 guest jurors for the 2012 BraunPrize ceremony to help determine the Gold, Silver and Bronze winners of this year's program. After hearing three professional/enthusiast and three student teams present their projects, the international group of guest jurors voted to decide this year's winners.
There were six Global Winners: Gold, Silver, Bronze in two categories, three Sustainability Award Winners: two Students and one Professional & Enthusiast, 30 National Winners and 20 Special Mentions with projects addressing challenges in mobility, clean energy, personal expression, safety and environmental sustainability.
>> View Gallery
Posted by
core jr | 26 Feb 2013
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A Sponsored Post on the History of Braun Design
Braun has been a benchmark for beautiful and functional design from its founding as an audio manufacturer in the '30s, to the debut of the S50 shaver in the '50s and including its current innovations in personal care like CoolTec dry shaver for sensitive skin. The undeniable influence of the era of Eichler and the Ulm School of Design on the role of design in business includes Dieter Rams' iconic "less is more" aesthetic." From personal care to audio, timepieces to kitchen appliances, the Braun brand permeates our most personal every day products.
Core77 is proud to launch a microsite dedicated to the history of Braun design. Over the next few months, we'll be doing a deep dive on the histories of Braun's Shavers, Time Pieces, Audio, Kitchen Appliances and Hair Care product categories. And today, we're launching with an interactive timeline of some of Braun's notable products from its storied design history. In addition, we have a full gallery of the most recent BraunPrize winners—the work has been honored for its "genius design for a better everyday."
Global Gold Winner, Professional/Enthusiast - Känguru, designed by Berlin-based designer Oliver Klein. It is a Mobility Concept for the Urban Context—a baby carrier and bicycle seat in one.
Established in 1968, the BraunPrize was Germany's first international design prize. It was originally introduced by Erwin Braun, son of Braun founder Max Braun, and the goal was to stimulate public debate about design, "during a time when understanding and awareness of design and its positive benefits were largely unknown." This year's program was juried by Oliver Grabes (Head of Braun Design and Core77 Design Awards Consumer Products Jury Captain), Naoto Fukasawa (Founder of Naoto Fukasawa Design), Jane Fulton Suri (Managing Partner and Creative Director at IDEO), Anne Bergner (BraunPrize Winner 1999 and Design Consultant) and Dirk Freund (Director R&D, Global Braun).
This year's program awarded 6 finalists, 3 Sustainability Award Winners, 30 National Winners and 20 Special Mentions across Student and Professional categories.
See our coverage of the 2012 BraunPrize ceremony here and the full gallery of the winners here.
>> Photo Gallery
As of today, there are only four weeks left to enter the Core77 Design Awards—we've even integrated a handy countdown clock into the Core77 homepage so you don't forget that time is winding down...
Of course, that's still plenty of time for you to put together a kickass entry, and we've got awesome news for those of you who are entering the Consumer Products and/or Equipment categories: We're pleased to announce the final two jury captains for the 2013 Core77 Design Awards program, and we think you'll share our excitement in welcoming these two design luminaries, as well as the 15 others we've already announced—all in one place!
Update, March 5: Check out the Jury Team lineups, hand-picked by our Jury Captains.
* * *
CONSUMER PRODUCTS
Judging location: Frankfurt, Germany
» Oliver Grabes, Jury Captain
Head of Design at Braun
Since September 2009, Professor Oliver Grabes is the new Head of Braun Design and is spearheading Braun's new design approach: "the strength of pure." His approach is to translate heritage into the future; taking Braun's values and world famous design heritage and combining it with modern technologies. His approach creates coherent products that are easy to use, useful and well designed. High quality is paramount to ensure a long-lasting product that creates a positive product experience over years. In addition to being Head of Braun Design, he is the chairman of the jury for the BraunPrize 2012 with the theme of "Genius Design for a better everyday."
EQUIPMENT
Judging location: Shanghai, China
Image via DMI
» Duncan Trevor-Wilson, Jury Captain
Design Manager at GE Healthcare
Duncan Trevor-Wilson is the global design manager for emerging markets at GE Healthcare based in Shanghai. Responsible for driving Strategic design solutions to developing nations healthcare challenges. Formerly he was a design manager at Motorola consumer experience division Beijing and ResMed Australia. In addition he has been awarded multiple design awards and patents for his innovative creations.
Hit the jump to see all of the previously-announced jury captains!
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From the Holy Cow Department: A collector in Heidelberg, Germany spent years amassing an impressive collection of Braun-designed objects—radios, phonographs, clocks, speakers, televisions, blenders, coffeemakers, toasters, you name it—made from 1955 to 1985. And s/he is now selling the entire collection off, roughly 1,000 objects, on eBay!
In addition to Dieter-Rams-designed icons like the SK 4 "Phonosuper," s/he's got classics like the SK 1 designed by Artur Braun and Fritz Eichler, the Florian-Seiffert-designed KF 20 Aromamaster, the Herbert-Hirche-designed HF 1 TV set, the list goes on...and on...and on.
The good news is you've still got five days left to get in on this! All you've gotta do is pony up the cash and get your ass to Heidelberg for pickup, about 100 miles north of Stuttgart.
The bad news is, the bidding starts at €350,000. But look, man, that Bauhaus museum you've been meaning to start isn't going to open its damn self.
Hit the jump to see the video that the seller kindly made... to torture us.
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Posted by
LinYee Yuan | 26 Sep 2012
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The BraunPrize wrapped up a record year, honoring 39 designs from around the world in their 2012 program. Over 100 design professionals (including former Heads of Braun Design Dieter Rams and Peter Schneider) making up this year's Design Forum gathered at Braun's Frankfurt headquarters today to hear final presentations from 3 Student and 3 Professional/Design Enthusiast finalists to award the winners for 2012's BraunPrize.
Olivier Grabes and Dieter Rams
The jury, consisting of Oliver Grabes (Head of Braun Design) Naoto Fukasawa (Naoto Fukasawa Design), Jane Fulton Suri (Managing Partner IDEO), Dr. Dirk Freund (Director of R&D Braun) and Anne Bergner (Former BraunPrize Winner and Professor of Integrated Product Design at University of Applied Sciences Coburg) had done most of the heavy lifting over 3 days in June. They combed through over 10 kilometers of paperwork (almost 2,400 entries) representing 73 countries from around the world and emerged with 3 finalists for the Student, Professional and Sustainability categories, as well as 15 notable entries from both student and professional entries representing National Winners.
Naoto Fukasawa and Jane Fulton Suri
The Global Gold Winner for the Student category was awarded to Sebastian Reichel for Agil, a flexible walking aid. Using innovative materials and construction, Reichel started with the notion that a walking stick could be an extension of one's arm to provide stability and support. Through careful design research and engineering considerations he found that creating hollow chambers within an "S"-shaped handle allowed for a dynamic and natural motion from the user.
The audience got a special surprise when Dieter Rams raised his hand and approached the podium to do some user testing. Unfortunately, the product on display was just a design display, not a functional prototype. Congratulations to Sebastian on his win! His work sheds light on the importance of designing for the aging population as well as those with disability.
Silver for the Student category was awarded to former boyscout Jussi Koskimäki for his First Aid Cover, an emergency blanket that can provide basic CPR and aid guide to timid bystanders in an emergency situation. The Cover could be distributed through first aid kits and emergency locations in public places. Bronze went to Dirk Hessenbruch for Mo, a flexible bike share and urban mobility system (as seen on Core77).
Dirk Hessenbruch's Mo System
The Global Gold Winner for the Professional/Enthusiast category went to Känguru, designed by Berlin-based designer Oliver Klein. The father of two designed a baby carrier and bicycle seat in one as a "mobility concept for the urban context with Infant." While presenting his concept to the Design Forum, Klein shared his 6 driving design considerations: Ergonomic transition between baby carrier and bike seat, a lightweight frame design that was inspired by the hollow bone structure of birds, a quick and easy bike mount, tool-free disassembly for easy cleaning and care, and an option for custom-made frames through rapid prototyping. I particularly liked the adjustable sling for the baby that can accomodate children as they grow from 6-24 months.
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Posted by
core jr | 6 Jun 2012
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Congratulations to our friends at the BraunPrize—in it's 18th year, the competition seeking "genius design for a better everyday" has received a record-breaking number of entries. Almost 2,400 entries from 73 countries were submitted for consideration. For the first time in the BraunPrize's history, the competition was open to design professionals, enthusiasts as well as design students. The expanded audience is part of Braun's mission "to make industrial design more widely accessible." To support that mission, Core77 and Braun challenged our readers to find Design in the Wild—a photo challenge identifying genius design for a better every day in categories like eat, work, play, relax.
This year's BraunPrize also established a new Sustainability Award recognizing design projects with a strong focus on sustainable solutions. National Awards were also added to increase awareness across local design communities.
Top, L to R: Naoto Fukasawa, Jane Fulton Suri, Anne Bergner; Bottom, L to R: Oliver Grabes, Dirk Freund (Director of Braun R&D)
The BraunPrize jury—consisting of Professor Oliver Grabes as jury chairman and Head of Design at Braun, Dr. Dirk Freund as Head of R&D at Braun, and the globally renowned design experts Naoto Fukasawa, Jane Fulton Suri and Professor Anne Bergner—also had to decide on the global Sustainability Award winner as well as the respective national award winners. We look forward to recognizing the winners of this year's BraunPrize 2012 this year at the BraunPrize Ceremony taking place September 26, 2012 in Kronberg, Germany.
Posted by
core jr | 26 Mar 2012
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Congratulations to Nick Hayes, Grand Prize Winner of the Core77 x Braun Design in the Wild Photo Challenge. Our judges chose his photograph, "I Put a Record On," as the winning entry to receive a grand prize package from Braun of an industry leading notebook computer and tablet!
"I Put a Record On" was selected as the winner for not only the quality of the products shown, but also because the photo illustrates a specific and familiar moment that's still utterly relatable. The image is highly evocative and brings several products together into a single instance in time while still being dynamic. "I'm in this moment," summarized judge Duy Phong Vu, Braun Section Head / Manager Product Design & Corporate Identity. "As the author points out, we have much more convenient ways to listen to music these days. So the act of putting a needle to vinyl is much more ritualistic than it used to be," explained judge and Core77 COO and partner Stuart Constantine. "This photograph conjures up the feelings and emotions that come with the ritual act, and therefore becomes a very powerful image referencing many products, systems, behavior, and environments."
The Runner-Up Winner is Jennifer DiMase for "2,000 filaments". The most popular image with 535 votes at judging, 2,000 filaments was described by the judges as an image of "simplicity and power." It's a beautifully composed, "instantly recognizable" product shot that gives the viewer an uncommon look at an everyday object from their childhood. The photograph of a koosh ball earned DiMase an industry-leading tablet.
Overall the judges, Phong & Stuart, found this competition complex to judge for a number of reasons. Most obviously, the different categories ended up yielding different types of photos. EAT and PLAY submissions were generally more product focused, while WORK and RELAX contained a lot more system and environmental designs. Entries tended to be either direct and object based, or less obvious but with compelling stories that pulled one in. Finally it was decided that the photo needed to speak first, and then the rest of the criteria were assessed. Looking back at the photo challenge's overall entries, here were some of our judge's most memorable notables:
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Posted by
core jr | 28 Sep 2011
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Last week, Braun announced the details for the 18th edition of their preeminent design awards program, a competition that they've held every three years since 1968. This year sees a couple of notable developments since last time around: for the first time in the history of the BraunPrize, they're opening the field to "design professionals and enthusiasts"—i.e. the general public—instead of just students, who will be judged in a separate category. To this end, the total prize money comes in at $100,000 and they've added a new Sustainability Award.
The jury, this time around, consists of esteemed design innovators Naoto Fukasawa, Jane Fulton Suri and Anne Bergner, led by jury captain Oliver Grabes, Braun's very own Head of Design, who explained further:
Our new awards theme is 'Genius design for a better everyday' embracing the high relevance of innovative, well-designed products for everyday life. As ever, we want to support great ideas that lead to innovative, practical, beautiful and intuitive product solutions tailored to everyday needs—the trademarks of Braun's influential design process. We want to ensure that the BraunPrize not only provides a showcase to those design students and professionals who want to pursue a career in design, but that it also encourages design enthusiasts outside of an academic context to enter.
Top, L to R: Naoto Fukasawa, Jane Fulton Suri, Anne Bergner; Bottom, L to R: Oliver Grabes, Dirk Freund (Director of Braun R&D)
Registration for the BraunPrize opens this Saturday, October 1, and they will be accepting submissions for six months, until March 31, 2012; winners will be announced at the "lavish BraunPrize Ceremony on September 26, 2012, in Kronberg, Germany." Once again, Braun has the blessing of icsid, the International Council of Societies of Industrial Design, who will support and endorse the 2012 BraunPrize.
Learn more here.
2009 Winner Clam I OLED Lamp by Johanna Schoemaker
Posted by
core jr | 11 Aug 2011
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Last night marked the opening of the Core77's exhibition "Good Design Is Long Lasting" at the Phaidon flagship store in New York City's Soho neighborhood, celebrating the work of Dieter Rams. We ended up with nearly 50 entries on our product timeline, which will be on view during store hours until August 24th.
We have a recap of the very well-attended panel discussion (with video) forthcoming, but we're sure the contest entrants are itching to find out if they won a copy of the new book As Little Design As Possible: The Work of Dieter Rams. Without further ado, congratulations to Josh Rigg, whose drawing of the Braun Sixtant Shaver (1962) included the short note, "Simple design that takes care of one hairy problem!"
It was definitely a tough decision, not least because we had quite a few excellent renderings of Rams' iconic electric razor design, so we'd like to share some of the other notable contenders as well. Many of us at Core really liked the winsome simplicity of Yuka Hiyoshi's take on the Vitsoe 606 shelving unit (1960):
David Hu submitted a few entries from his iPad, including this take on the Braun HF1 Television (1958):
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Posted by
core jr | 28 Jul 2011
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Comments (1)
Good design is innovative.
Good design makes a product useful.
Good design is aesthetic.
Good design makes a product understandable.
Good design is unobtrusive.
Good design is honest.
Good design is long-lasting.
Good design is thorough down to the last detail.
Good design is environmentally friendly.
Good design is as little design as possible.
In support of As Little Design As Possible: The Work of Dieter Rams, Core77 and Phaidon are hosting a design contest to celebrate Rams' work and design principles.
Add your sketch to the Core77 Dieter Rams product timeline which will be exhibited at the Phaidon Flagship store in New York City for a chance to win a copy of the new book.
All entries are due by August 8th. Download the contest rules and official entry form here. PIck your favorite work by Rams from our selection and sumbit your black and white sketch to mail[at]core77.com for our product timeline!
Core77 and Phaidon present...
Good Design is Long Lasting
August 10-24, 2011
Phaidon Store
83 Wooster
New York City
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Posted by
core jr | 20 Jun 2011
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We've been eagerly awaiting Sophie Lovell's new book Dieter Rams: As Little Design as Possible and today, Phaidon released a sneak peek at what the book has in store for us! For the project, photographer Florian Böhm was invited to document the Braun Archive and the house of Dieter Rams in Kronberg, Germany. His images provide a fascinating peek at the previously unseen world of Dieter Rams.
There have been several books about Rams' work and impact in recent years (including the Klaus Kemp's Less and More which we reviewed in 2009), but what sets this weighty, almost 400-page tome apart is that Lovell spent three years with Mr. Rams writing the book. Sophie painstakingly helped to catalog decades of Dieter's work, and in the process, recorded his thoughts on everything from aesthetics in general to what makes a good designer. Each of his pieces is documented in chronological order, and fantastic photos are aplenty with details of product, rare images of prototypes, models and sketches, as well as shots of Ram's workshop and studio.
The forward is written by Apple Senior Vice President of Design, Jonathan Ive, and the back of the book features interviews from 6 of today's most influential designers: Jonathan Ive, Naoto Fukasawa, Jasper Morrison, Sam Hecht, Konstantin Grcic, and Core77 friend and contributor / frog creative director, Michael DiTullo. Stay tuned for our more in-depth review and coverage of Dieter Rams: As Little Design as Possible and check out more pictures of the book after the jump!
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Suh-weet—Braun has decided to reissue a bunch of their clocks and watches, some of which are designed by, oh, some guy named Dieter Rams. In traditional subdued Braun style--remember the almost complete lack of hyped-up fanfare accompanying their 90th birthday?—they've quietly put the products up on their Braun Time website.
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An interaction design student from Sweden's Umea Institute of Design did this home music player for Spotify, seen above. Reportedly done in collaboration with that company, it allows you to play music by sticking a magnetic RFID tag linked to one of your playlists onto the volume knob; a reader embedded in the player identifies the tag and the appropriate music comes out of the speaker.
That's all fine and good. What we take exception to is the assertion that this device "looks like a digital lovechild of Jonathan Ive and the brilliant Swedes at Ikea."
Oh, really? Is that what it looks like?
Tomorrow is the 90th anniversary of Braun, the Ramsian powerhouse of clean design that, yes, has been around since 1921 and was founded by Max Braun.
After Max died in the '50s, sons Artur and Erwin Braun developed Braun Design, the dedicated design branch, in 1955. And then apparently some guy named Dieter came along and sort of, like, changed the face of industrial design as we know it, ushered in a German design renaissance and planted influences that we still see in products today.
With typical German restraint, Braun has no splashy banners all over their homepage announcing the anniversary. They do, however, have a sexy slideshow of their design hits posted here.
Posted by
core jr | 15 Jul 2010
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Braunprize 2009.
One of our favorite (and one of the oldest) design awards, the BraunPrize has announced plans to expand and revamp before it's next triennial appearance in 2012. In addition to putting the prize back on its former rotation of once every three years, the changes will increase its accessibility and engage design consumers and kindle a renewed interest in emerging markets.
The revamp is is being led by Professor Oliver Grabes, Head of Braun Corporate Design, and Phil Dunan, P&G's Global Design Officer. Grabes says:
In making some significant changes to the awards process, we are further establishing our commitment to the accessibility of this competition and want to ensure that it not only provides a showcase to those who want to pursue a career in design, but that it also encourages engagement with design for those enthusiasts and professionals outside of an academic context." He continues "As ever, we want to support great ideas, clarity of vision and practical, beautiful and intuitive solutions to everyday concerns, the trademarks of Braun's influential design process.
The details are still under wraps and the competition still long in coming, but it's never too early to start planning! For inspiration see the 2009 winners and awards ceremony,
Posted by
Robert Blinn | 3 Nov 2009
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Comments (4)
Make no mistake, the "deconstruction" in the new book Deconstructing Product Design owes as much to Derrida as it does to David Macauley. William Lidwell and Gerry Manacsa take 100 (mostly) iconic products and hold them up to the scrutiny of a panel of modern design thinkers. For a hard-core industrial designer, deconstruction as disassembly might have been more interesting than deconstruction as critical analysis. Although it could have revealed some hidden engineering mysteries, our desire to see Segways in pieces and Tickle Me Elmo eviscerated may have to wait for another book.
Instead of laying waste to products with screwdrivers and crowbars, a wide range of occasionally famous, sometimes beautiful and frequently innovative products are subjected to the verbal barbs and jabs of unexpectedly-funny designers and engineers. In a very brief introduction the authors explain their criteria for choosing the 100 products they included: (1) does the product exemplify good design in at least one respect, and (2) does the product illustrate at least one key principle of design? Perhaps the best articulated spread of the book comes next, a two-page overview of the pages to come, complete with thumbnail text, picture frames and notes which provides a framework for understanding the product pages without resorting to a long-winded explanation.
The bulk of the book consists of 200 pages of product photography and accompanying analysis. Each product is shot against a white background and so evenly-lit as to suggest a rendering rather than a photo. For some objects, such as the LC4 Chaise Lounge and the Pot-in-Pot cooler, the funny textures suggest rendering, while for others, such as Elmo himself, the red fur seems naturalistic enough to have been photographed. Rather than glossy product photography, however, the images serve only to remind the viewer of the form factors of already familiar objects. Far more interesting is the historical background and analysis provided by the authors (e.g. early prototypes of Apple's mouse used the ball from a stick of Ban Roll-On deodorant) and reading the color commentary from design thinkers (and Core77 contributors!) such as interaction designer Jon Kolko, product designer Scott Henderson and design researcher Steve Portigal. Across the bottom of each spread a variety of experts weigh in on the product with an assortment of critical commentary, fond reminiscence and occasional bursts of humor. This reviewer's favorite comment was from Lyle Sander, and experience designer, who noted that it would be "unsportsmanlike to order pizza" with the sculpturally phallic BeoCom2 phone.
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Posted by
Stephan Ott | 21 Sep 2009
With the words "Ich bin ein Kronberger," Dr. Mark Breitenberg summarized his speech "Changes and Challenges of International Design Promotion" at the BraunPrize 2009 Award Ceremony on September 16th. Breitenbach, president elect of ICSID (International Council of Societies of Industrial Design), provost of California College of the Arts and former member of the BraunPrize jury, knows what he is talking about. Kronberg is not only the hometown of Braun, where the prize was founded in 1968, but also the place where the winners of the BraunPrizes are painstakingly selected.
BraunPrize 2009 Finalists: (clockwise from upper right) Johanna Schoemaker, Karsten Willmann, Stephan Zimmermann, and Tobias Stuntebeck.
No other design competition for young professionals requires so much effort to select a winner - three rounds of judging by two different juries must be passed. In 2009, a record number of 1074 projects from 54 different countries were submitted. The members of the BraunPrize jury included Anna Kirah, design anthropologist from Oslo; Kazuo Tanaka, President of GK Design Group, Tokyo; Florian Seiffert, retired Professor for Product Design, Fachhochschule Mainz (and first BraunPrize Winner in 1968); Rainer Silbernagel, Director of the Braun Engeneering, Kronberg; and Jury Chairman Peter Schneider, Head of Braun Design Department until the beginning of 2009. In the first two rounds, 22 projects were chosen for the BraunPrize exhibition, which debuted during the ceremony and will tour internationally. The 2009 catalogue of all awarded projects, including the winners of the BraunPrize Mexico and China, is also available.
More pics and the winner after the jump...
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Posted by
Robert Blinn | 30 Jul 2009
Anyone who thinks that minimalist or clean product design begins and ends with Jonathan Ive would be well served to check out the latest exhibit on Dieter Rams. Unfortunately, the exhibit in question was already held at the Suntory Museum in Osaka, Japan ... but the contents of the retrospective have also been catalogued in a book, Less and More available in limited numbers through the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum. Rather than working for Braun, Rams was Braun, since of the 1,272 products designed during his stay, "Rams, or teams in which Rams was a member, designed 514 of them." During that time, they crafted the design language for everything from stereo amplifiers to electric shavers, and much of that language remains applicable today.
While the book's title Less and More nearly demands to be mistyped as Less is More, Rams himself explained his design approach as "Weniger, aber besser," which translates roughly to "Less, but Better," but the book remains indicative of its title. Consisting of nearly 800 pages (more), it has a nearly flimsy cover (less), that comes in a box (more) wrapped in a plastic wrapper (much more). The book itself demanded to be treated delicately and the process of reading it felt more reverent than functional. That, however, is our only complaint. The interior of the book alternates between thick pages with juicy product shots and dense essays written in Japanese and English on diaphanous paper. The essays do a nice job of describing the circumstances by which the young Rams wound up working at Braun a scant two years before Braun's products made a splash at the 11th Milan Triennial and wound up the MoMA's permanent collection shortly thereafter, but as befits any designer, the pictures of his products tell the story just as clearly.
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Posted by
core jr | 16 Dec 2008
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As part of Core77's photo competition with Braun, we present periodic highlights from some of the best, most inspiring images. Make sure to visit www.core77.com/braunprize2009 to vote on your favorites, and enter your own inspiring photographs right here.
Balazs Szabo, Hungary
Oo
John Moss, Canada
Corner Post
Mia Ferrera Wiesenthal, United States
Big Sur
(Digital photo shot through a broken cell phone camera lens)
2007 Winner: Leap Frog by Donn Koh
The BraunPrize 2009 International Design Award is open to all industrial designers, who are still studying, or who completed their studies after March 2006. The BraunPrize has always been entirely independent of the Braun product range. Designs should be developed with user' needs in mind showing applications which support them in their everyday lives - in the home, at work or school, during sports and leisure activities or in the context of health and personal care.
Prizes
Winner: €12,000 in prize money and a (paid) six-month internship in the Design Department at Braun.
Finalists: € 5,000 each
Deadline: January 31, 2009
view details
Last night, we headed to Braun's headquarters in Kronberg (Germany) to cast our vote for the 16th BraunPrize. The BraunPrize started in 1968 as Germany's first international competition to promote the work of young designers and has grown out to a global event reaching its peak at the biannual award ceremony.
Singaporean designer Donn Koh wins the BraunPrize 2007 with the "Leapfrog", an innovative walking aid for children with impaired mobility. He receives a prize fund of 12.000 Euros and is offered a fully paid six-month internship at the Braun design department which is probably the best of it all.
Tons more photos and commentary after the jump!
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Posted by
core jr | 31 Jul 2007
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Win a Trip to Germany! The BraunPrize, in conjunction with Core 77, is offering you the chance to attend the awards ceremony, with travel and two nights hotel stay included. This year marks the 16th edition of the bi-annual BraunPrize, held in Kronberg, Germany (September 12, 2007). To enter the drawing, complete the form here and correctly answer the 3 multiple choice questions. On August 16, one lucky winner will be selected to receive the all-expense-paid trip to Germany and an invitation to the gala awards.
For full details, rules and schedule click here. Deadline: August 15, 2007.
Posted by
StuCon | 1 Dec 2005
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The only US appearance of the Braun 50 years of Design exhibit opened last night at the Massachusetts College of Art. The exhibit is part of the Empowered Innovation conference being held at the school. At top, design icon Dieter Rams poses with some of his early work.
More photos on the next page...
