Systems Studio’s Das Programm researches and documents Dieter Rams’ iconic work for Braun

Established as the research arm of London-based creative agency Systems Studio, Das Programm researches and documents the work of modernist icon Dieter Rams for German product company Braun and British furniture brand Vitsœ. Their activities include writing projects, exhibition curation and the supply of objects to institutions such as London’s Design Museum, the Vitra Museum and the Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum. From 60s audio equipment to 80s shavers, they stock an immense collection of over 550 Braun and Vitsœ objects.

Das Programm’s website, which naturally is designed by Systems Studio, functions as an archive, reference book and educational resource for passionate Rams fanatics and newcomers alike. Its visual identity successfully aligns with Braun and Vitsœ’s epochal modernist aesthetic, with precise gridwork and beautifully-functional typography allowing bespoke product photography to speak for itself.

For the brand’s sole typeface, Systems Studio deployed NBL’s NB International – a sans serif with roots in mid-century ‘International Style’. “Our challenge was to express a connection to the modernist tradition whilst avoiding a historical or nostalgic pastiche,” Systems Studio Partner and Design Director Giorgio Del Buono tells us. As a result, they instantly ruled out “the obvious type choices of Akzidenz Grotesk, Helvetica and Univers.” NB International’s tension between traditional and contemporary characteristics provide the ideal typographic solution for Das Programm, as a typeface that’s both comfortably functional in a supporting role and sufficiently characterful as the all-lowercase wordmark.

Although predominantly muted, Das Programm’s palette prospers from a series of vibrant, delicately-applied accent colours, added in reference to Braun’s own sparing, hierarchical use of colour. “Again, we were looking for ways to establish connections with the Braun tradition without simply rehearsing it,” Del Buono adds, before concluding that “perhaps that’s a good way of describing the studio’s relation to modernist design more generally.”

As a result of Systems Studio’s inspirational work, Braun and Vitsœ’s lively community of followers now have a place to call upon as their home. A place in which their passion and dedication are reflected through beautiful, considered and functional design.

Systems Studio

Das Programm