Hacker Cinema
Rams
2018 · Film · documentary · 74 min
Directed by Gary Hustwit
For over fifty years, legendary designer Dieter Rams has left an indelible mark on the field of product design with his iconic work at Braun and Vitsoe, and his influence on Apple. So at 86 years old, why does he now regret being a designer? This is a design documentary, but it’s also a rumination on consumerism, materialism, and sustainability. Dieter's philosophy is about more than just design, it’s about a way to live.
9 positive5 neutralfrom 14 commenters
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16 comments on Hacker News
Rams documentary, 2018 from director of Helvetica
https://www.hustwit.com/rams
Rams documentary https://www.hustwit.com/rams
Wow! I didn't expect the simple circular design, but it's so apt and clean. I just finished watching the Dieter Rams documentary, and this seems to follow his key principles well.
Didn't immediately recognize the name...
Dieter Rams (born 20 May 1932) is a German industrial designer who is most closely associated with the consumer products company Braun, the furniture company Vitsœ, and the functionalist school of industrial design. His unobtrusive approach and belief in "less, but better" (Weniger, aber besser) design has influenced the practice of design, as well as 20th century aesthetics and culture
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Rams documentary
On 22 June 2016, filmmaker Gary Hustwit announced his documentary Rams and launched a Kickstarter campaign for the project. The full-length documentary features in-depth conversations with Rams about his design philosophy, the process behind some of his most iconic designs, his inspiration and his regrets. Some of the funds raised in the Kickstarter campaign also helped to preserve Rams's design archive in cooperation with the Dieter and Ingeborg Rams Foundation.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dieter_Rams
(that said I get "Sorry Because of its privacy settings, this video cannot be played here.")
Rams documentary, 2018 from director of Helvetica
https://www.hustwit.com/rams
"Rams is a design documentary, but it’s also a rumination on consumerism, materialism, and sustainability. Dieter's philosophy is about more than just design, it’s about a way to live. It’s about getting rid of distractions and visual clutter, and just living with what you need. The film features original music by pioneering musician and producer Brian Eno."
- https://www.hustwit.com/rams
Don’t learn it if you don’t want to and don’t need to.
On the other hand, if you want a lighter introduction to design, try watching one of Gary Hustwit’s films like Helvetica, Objectified, or Rams. Or read the Design of Everyday Things by Don Norman.
If you're not already familiar with Dieter Rams, you might like his thoughts on design; see:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dieter_Rams
I saw a great documentary about Rams, which was put online as free to watch - but for only a month or so. Not sure whether it was this one, but I think that it might be. There's a chance you might find it archived somewhere:
https://www.hustwit.com/rams/
Edit for spelling and to add that it's available on Amazon Prime (for me in the UK):
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/video/detail/amzn1.dv.gti.38b6986a-10af-731f-2dd5-a9991929281a?ref_=imdbref_tt_wbr_pvt_aiv&tag=imdbtag_tt_wbr_pvt_aiv-21
The director, Gary Hustwit, made his films (Helvetica, Objectified, Urbanized, Workplace, Rams, and others) available for free during the first weeks of the lockdown -- each one for a week. It was nice to see them again.
https://www.ohyouprettythings.com/free
From the about page [1]:
Gary Hustwit is an independent filmmaker and photographer based in New York....
In 2007 he made his directorial debut with Helvetica, the world’s first feature-length documentary about graphic design and typography. The film marked the beginning of a design film trilogy, with Objectified, about industrial design and product design following in 2009, and Urbanized, about the design of cities, in 2011. The films have been broadcast on PBS, BBC, HBO and television outlets in 20 countries, and have been screened in over 300 cities worldwide. Workplace, a documentary project about the future of the office, was commissioned for the 2016 Venice Biennale of Architecture. His most recent feature film, Rams, about German design legend Dieter Rams with original music by Brian Eno, was released in Fall 2018.
[1] https://www.hustwit.com/about
Add Urbanized to that list too, it’s a really great look at how cities and their spaces are designed.
He also recently produced Rams which I’ve not yet had a chance to see but I hope is on par with his previous work.
And if you enjoy these films you’ll also likely appreciate the Abstract series which originally aired on Netflix.
I would argue for biographical format the movie takes. Rams’ design is this foundation for what now represents an aspirational aesthetic. The design is not faceless, but it aims to be invisible.
Having a glimpse of the individual and his philosophies gives insight into how he made those decisions. It also gives a sense of the forces that working against him.
At the beginning of the film, he took a question from an aspiring industrial designer about overcoming mediocrity. Rams’ response was about surrounding oneself with people who see themselves as striving to be better. Obviously, this statement is portable to beyond just design.
@dang can you update this title to indicate that the link is so-and-so's documentary about Dieter Rams?
It’s very generous of Gary Hustwit to make his films free right now. He’s being doing one a week. I watched Rams last night and really enjoyed it. Dieter Rams lived in post-war Germany and pretty much invented modern product design. He was hugely influential to Jony Ive and Apple. If you like well-made documentaries about people fully engaged in their craft, I highly recommend it.
Also, check out Objectified which is more about product design in general and features Ives. Helvetica is my favorite Hustwit film, but this comes close if not surpasses it.
There's also a recently released documentary about him: https://www.hustwit.com/rams/
I want to live in a world where businesses are formed based on the value they deliver to the consumer directly. Not siphoning the data and selling it to third parties. Ever growing advertisement and marketing needs/greed has created a universe of stuff around us that makes me ever so vigilant of companies selling me stuff for cheap and in turn selling me advertisements.
In old days (before the internet), if I buy a PC from Apple or IBM, you get what you pay for. Besides the cable companies / newspapers / magazines bombarding ads, everything back in the day was 1:1 - you pay for something, you get value for it.
Now a days, we have large companies losing money while killing competition (Uber), large companies in bed with government, and large companies in bed with advertisers and marketing agencies.
Fuck the world. I can't wait to see Dieter Rams' documentary premier this October. From the trailers, it looks like it is addressing the very fabric of today's society than talking about industrial design. [1]
I don't want to be a product. I want to be a loyal customer.
[1] https://www.hustwit.com/rams/