Dieter Rams was a designer for Braun. Braun made stuff cool before Apple was in existence. Take a look at Apple’s products- and then read this list- and all of a sudden, you understand why the brand is iconic, the positioning is differentiated and that when hardware becomes irrelevant, Apple will still be a force to be reckoned with (at least as long as they can keep a Steve Jobs like visionary in charge).
Dieter Rams / Design Museum Collection : Industrial Designer (1932-) - Design/Designer Information
Good design is innovative.
Good design makes a product useful.
Good design is aesthetic.
Good design helps us to understand a product.
Good design is unobtrusive.
Good design is honest.
Good design is durable.
Good design is consequent to the last detail.
Good design is concerned with the environment.
Good design is as little design as possible.
Back to purity, back to simplicity.