The Friday Thing #744

My apologies to Roberto Carlos from last week who I inadvertently renamed as Robert. Oops…

The Friday Thing #744 returns to a subject and person I have mentioned several times here over the years – but strangely have never gone into much detail on. The topic is the Ten principles for good design and the person is their author, Dieter Rams. For those who have even a passing interest in design, Rams needs no introduction. For those of you with an iPhone you can take comfort in his influence on the design of that object. He is the legendary Braun designer whose influence extends far beyond a line of products that spans transistor radio, electric shavers, furniture, calculators, shelving units and so much here. Here are his ten principles:?

They’re a little small to read in detail there so please head over to the Vitsoe site to see them in full – along with some photos of Rams’ wonderfully timeless objects.

What got me thinking about these principles was a recent suggestion from a friend that perhaps I should come up with 10 communications principles (or storytelling principles). I am still giving that some thought and looking for co-collaborators as I am by no means an expert on communications yet am surrounded by a lot of wise communicators. As I read the Rams principles again though, I was struck by how many could be equally applied to communications – sometimes verbatim, sometimes with a small tweak.

• ?Good design is long lasting. Good communications are enduring.
• Good design is honest. Good communication is honest.
• Good design makes a product understandable. Good communication makes a product understandable.
• Good design is as little design as possible. Good communications is as little communication as possible.

?I was tempted to bluntly and the Friday Thing right there after that last one - but I don’t agree with it as a principle. I prefer “Good communication is just enough communication. No more, no less.”

And with that, I’ll leave you to ponder and contribute in the comments and responses. Perhaps we can crowdsource the Ten Principles for Good Communication.?

Happy Friday. See you next week….and thanks for the inspiration, Trish.

?-Steve