The Director of Helvetica Is Making a Documentary About the Man Who Likely Designed Your Coffeemaker

There has never been a full-length feature documentary about the life and work of Dieter Rams, one of the most influential designers of the 20^th century. The now-84-year-old German designer has spent more than half a century creating more than 500 products for Braun and Vitsoe that have been used by millions of people around the world who might never have given a second thought to wondering who designed their coffeemakers, alarm clocks, electric toothbrushes, or stereos.

Rams’ 10 principles for good design culminate in a “less, but better” philosophy that is as relevant and timeless today as it was 50 years ago, and his aesthetic values of refined simplicity and restraint continue to inspire new generations of designers (notably Jony Ive, who wrote about Rams’ influence on his own design work in the forward of a book about Rams, As Little Design As Possible, published by Phaidon in 2011).

Now documentary filmmaker Gary Hustwit (​Helvetica,​ Urbanized​, ​Objectified​) wants to shine a spotlight on the designer. He’s turned to Kickstarter to ask for $200,000 to help him complete a doc-in-progress, as well as to help fund preservation of Rams’ personal design archives.

Hustwit has already spent several weeks interviewing the designer, whom he briefly featured in his 2008 design documentary Objectified, at Rams’ home in Germany and at the Vitsoe studios in London, where he continues to collaborate on reissues of his work.

“This film is an opportunity to celebrate a designer whose work continues to impact us, and preserve an important piece of design history,” Hustwit said in a press release. “I’m also interested in exploring the role that manufactured objects play in our lives, and by extension the relationship we have with the people who design them.”

One of the most interesting parts of Rams’ story “is that he now looks back on his career with some regret,” Hustwit noted in his Kickstarter pitch. “If I had to do it over again, I would not want to be a designer,” he told Hustwit in Objectified. “There are too many unnecessary products in this world.”