Sit-a-while
on swinging porch
where tin-dippers and
sweet water
in cool touches
meet lips
from hand dug wells.

Star Designer Dieter Rams Thinks We're Buying Too Much Stuff

Good morning good people,

"Rams designed objects with an architect’s mentality. He believed objects should respect the space they existed within, and oftentimes that meant letting them fade into the background." https://www.wired.com/story/dieter-rams-documentary-gary-hustwit/

For over fifty years, Dieter Rams has left an indelible mark on the field of product design and the world at large with his iconic work at Braun and Vitsoe. The objects Dieter has designed have touched the lives of millions of people––so many of us have had a Braun coffeemaker, shaver, stereo, calculator, speakers, or alarm clock. Or an Oral-B toothbrush. Or a Vitsoe 606 shelving system. Or any of the hundreds of other products Dieter has designed or overseen the design of.

His work has influenced the way most of today's consumer products look and function. The computer or phone you're reading this on looks the way it does because of Dieter Rams. Dieter's influence also extends to his "Ten Principles of Good Design," a list of edicts that champions simplicity, honesty, and restraint, and still applies to design theory and practice today.

In 2008, Gary interviewed Dieter for his documentary Objectified, but was only able to share a small piece of his story in that film. Dieter, who is now 86, is a very private person; however Gary has been granted unprecedented access to create the first feature-length documentary about his life and work. The documentary is simply titled Rams.https://www.hustwit.com/rams/

.....

All night rooting, Hamlet squeezed loose,
a secret pinkness under the wall,
your pet piglet
feeling himself round and free in the city.
He’d made it.
Streetlights reddened his tiny eyes.
White clouds hooted from his nostrils.
He sprinted up and down the sweet garbage rows.

You weren’t worried. You said
pigs are among the cleverest creatures we know:
whales descend from pigs.
I imagined Hamlet bobbing on the ocean,
in the sunshine growing huge and thoughtful.
We searched all morning in the park,
shattering the frosted shadows of trees.
Now he seems like part of our love getting away.

We found the women hurling their groceries
over their heads, on Main Street, Hamlet
squirting out from under parked cars,
his tail curled tightly behind.
Children shrieked happily.
Policemen toddled on their knees, pleading,
plunking their nightsticks.
A store window had broken, blanketing
the sidewalk. A firetruck came
and backed over a streetsign.

Everyone pointed, Hamlet skidding
down Pearl Street by the river.
I don’t believe he swam for it,
smoothly cutting through the slushy Kennebec
and across Casco Bay into the open Atlantic.
I think he went to the dump
with its enormous seagulls turning overhead
and waited for the town dogs.

Chasing Hamlet ~ John Witte

Wherever you are, hoping you've a wonderful day.

The porch is yours ...