In the 1970s, Dieter Rams began formulating his 10 principles of good design, which designers today still interpret as gospel—a testament to Rams's unquestionable foresight and greatness. If you were to quantify his impact, you need only look at the millions of Apple products in our pockets and on our desks; Jonathan Ive and Steve Jobs were disciples of Rams and incorporated his industrial design philosophy—as demonstrated through his work at the German electronics company Braun—into their own work.
Yet it was furniture, not electronics, that was most emblematic of Rams's 10 principles, according to the designer himself.
"Perhaps even more directly than with the Braun appliances, my furniture arose from a belief in how the world should be 'outfitted' and how people should live in this artificial environment," Rams once said. "In this respect, each piece of furniture is also a design for a certain kind of world and way of living."