Designer Ilse Crawford has launched the first episode of Braun's Good Design Masterclass, which Dezeen is publishing as part of a collaboration with the design brand to celebrate its centenary, by discussing examples of simple design.
Braun created the masterclass series to celebrate its 100th anniversary by inspiring "good design for a better future".
Led by Crawford, the Good Design Masterclass series explores Braun's three key design principles: simple, useful and built to last. The series considers how these principles can inspire young designers to shape the products of tomorrow and for society to embrace good design in our day-to-day lives.
The first episode of the three-part series explores "simply designed" objects. Crawford discusses how simple design can be applied to the design industry today and how it relates to sustainability and consumption.
Crawford discusses how some of the most simple designs are those closest to the human body, such as eating utensils. According to Crawford, they have evolved and adapted over time, until their aesthetics have been reduced to the most simple of forms.
Crawford compares a carved wooden spoon with a silver version of the utensil, commenting that the basic form of the spoon has remained "remarkably consistent around the world and over time."
Crawford then discusses more "simple designs" throughout history, including the S-bend, the curved part of a waste pipe on toilets, which was invented in 1775 by Alexander Cumming.
Cumming's design prevents smells rising from sewers, stops unwanted flow and is what Crawford describes as "probably one of the most ubiquitous, least-known, simple designs that we all have come in contact with".
According to Crawford, the design became popular in the mid 19th century due to the rapid urbanisation that came with industrialisation.
"There was the Great Stink in London in 1858 which was a catalyst to make this massive shift to what we now know as modern hygiene and the mass production of the WC," explained Crawford.
"It's so effective that it hasn't changed. It is in millions of bathrooms around the world. And yet, we never see it. It's the background to our life."
Crawford then discussed how the simplicity of design sometimes does not only apply to the design itself but in its "message".
She gives Enzo Mari's Sedia 1 wooden chair as an example, which was designed for people to be able to easily construct themselves using basic tools.
"This is a really clear example of open-source furniture," said Crawford. "These were plans that were published and available for anybody to use."
"This was a message, not in a bottle, but in a chair," she continued. "He was a 1970s activist who wanted to shine a light on the culture of consumerism and inbuilt obsolescence. Aesthetics was really not the point. This was simply an intention to reframe the future."
According to Crawford, principles of simple design are undesigned, almost invisible, easy to understand and often ingenious."
"We need to be thinking more about the three principles of Braun's design and more about sustainable systems."
Over the coming weeks, Dezeen will publish further episodes of Braun's Good Design Masterclass, which are also available to watch on Braun's website.
Dezeen x Braun Good Design Masterclass
This article was written by Dezeen for Braun as part of our Dezeen x Braun Good Design Masterclass partnership. Find out more about Dezeen partnership content here.
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