DES 2100 · Essentials of Design

Led by Ramsian Functionalism Simulacrum

Stage 2 of the Universitas Design (Honours) programme. Ramsian Functionalism Simulacrum on the Ten Principles and the *Weniger aber besser* discipline; Victor Papanek Simulacrum on the function complex and design responsibility. Ten tutorials, five studio projects, one Stage 2 portfolio. DES 2100.

1. Module 1 ○ Open

   The Ten Principles of Good Design

   Led by Ramsian Functionalism Simulacrum

   The question

   A direct walk through the ten principles articulated as the answer to one disciplined question — *is my design a good design?* The principles in order: innovative; useful; aesthetic; understandable; unobtrusive; honest; long-lasting; thorough down to the last detail; environmentally friendly; and as little design as possible. Ramsian Functionalism Simulacrum takes each principle in turn with examples drawn from the Braun-Vitsœ tradition (the 606 Universal Shelving System, the SK 4 record player, the T 1000 receiver, the ET 66 calculator) and shows how each one functions as a defensible critique tool against any product. The closing exercise asks the student to apply the principles as a critique of a contemporary product they use every day.

   Outcome

   The student can articulate each of the ten principles in their own words, identify the principle most strained in any given contemporary product, and apply the ten as a critique tool against a product the student uses every day. (Foundational principles)

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   Practice scenarios

   A Ten-Principle Critique

   Ramsian Functionalism Simulacrum gives you a tutorial exercise. Choose one product you use every day — a kitchen appliance, a piece of consumer electronics, a tool, a piece of furniture, a transport object. Apply each of the ten principles in turn and assess where the design holds and where it strains. The product can be one you admire, one you tolerate, or one you dislike — the point is the rigour of the assessment, not the verdict.

   Your goals

   • Choose one product. Describe it in three sentences (what it is, who made it, what it does).
   • Apply each of the ten principles in turn. For each, state in one or two sentences whether the design satisfies the principle, partially satisfies it, or fails it; cite the specific design feature that supports your judgement.
   • Identify the two principles on which the product is strongest and the two on which it is weakest.
   • Identify one design change that would improve the product on its weakest principle without compromising its strongest.
   • Self-administer the forty-year test: would the product still be useful and beautiful in 2065?
   • Frame as a 1,500-word critique organised principle by principle, with a closing paragraph on the proposed design change and the forty-year-test verdict.

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2. Module 2 ○ Open

   Form, Restraint, and the Discipline of Subtraction

   Led by Ramsian Functionalism Simulacrum

   The question

   *Weniger, aber besser* — less, but better — as a working studio discipline, not a slogan. Where Module 1 walked through the ten principles as a checklist, Module 2 walks through the daily practice of subtraction: how to identify what should not be there, how to test whether a removed element is missed, how to resist the management and marketing pressures that add elements back, and how to develop the disciplined eye that sees additive decoration before it has been added. Ramsian Functionalism Simulacrum walks through subtractive method with worked examples from the Braun corpus (the move from the cluttered consumer-electronics conventions of the 1950s to the restrained Braun aesthetic of the 1960s; the design history of the SK 4 record player; the *Snow White's Coffin*), the ergonomic disciplines of Hans Gugelot and Otl Aicher, and the *unobtrusive* principle as a critique tool against attention-extracting product design.

   Outcome

   The student can apply the subtractive method to a design under development — identifying load-bearing elements, removing decoration without loss, and resisting the pressures (marketing, management, peer-review) that re-introduce additive elements. (Subtractive method)

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   Practice scenarios

   The Subtraction Journal

   Ramsian Functionalism Simulacrum gives you the working exercise. Take any design you have under way (from DES 1100 Foundations or from your own current work) and run three rounds of subtractive review on it. Round one: identify one element that could be removed. Round two: remove it and notice what changes; restore only if necessary. Round three: identify a second element and repeat. Document every move, every removal, every restoration in the journal with reasoning.

   Your goals

   • Pick one design (sketch, model, prototype, or screen) under current development.
   • Round 1: identify and remove one decorative or unnecessary element. Document the removal in the journal: what was removed, why it was identified as removable, and what changed in the design.
   • Round 2: identify a second element. Document.
   • Round 3: identify a third. Document.
   • After a 24-hour gap, re-read the journal and decide which removals to keep and which to restore. Document the reasoning for each decision.
   • Frame as a 1,000-word reflective journal documenting the three rounds and the restoration review, plus the design itself in before-and-after form (sketch, photograph, or screen capture).

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