TEXT Lutz FügeneR
Just-rightness, the noun of the term just-right, is by no means an established, even canonical term – if it exists at all in the field of design science. It appears here and there in texts on the subject of design and in most cases indicates a qualitative value, an adjustment. Just-rightness therefore currently leaves a lot of room for interpretation. One interpretation of the term that crops up from time to time is exciting because it touches on a fundamental question of design in general. It is about dimensional accuracy, about the self-image of design in its position between technology and marketing.
»Good design is as little design as possible«, formulated Dieter Rams––God-Father of late modernism––and thus makes use of a linguistic trick. The point of the sentence results from the different content of the term design in German and English. A translation of the thesis into English therefore also harbors the risk of misinterpretation. Perhaps the more comprehensible, admittedly even more »denglish« formulation »Good design is as little styling as possible« would be the more consistent formulation of the claim, but the linguistic sophistication of the thesis would be lost and it should therefore be rejected from an aesthetic point of view alone.
Oru Kayak — Model Coast XT
But maybe it’s not as simple as that: Ditch the styling and you’ll be well on your way. Times have changed. Design acts as a protagonist in almost universally overcrowded markets and is thus an elementary part of the toolbox for displacing competing products. Today, in a world of too much, there is also too much design. The situation is comparable to that of the press, which also feels increasingly exposed to competition for attention. Attention economy is the new magic word and creates a new, important basic rule: overcome the threshold of perception in order to expose the competition. Press professionals like to describe this process with the phrase »a content steep edge«, which means nothing other than making a mountain out of literally every molehill, increasing the level of excitement and thus attention in order to provoke the click reflex in inclined online consumers of the news site. After all, only clicks are counted and, by converting them into advertising value, put money in the coffers. What the media creator’s click figures are to the retailer’s sales figures. And there are various ways to achieve this––several of them are through design.
Oru Kayak — Inlet model
In the German-speaking world in particular, the term design is narrowly defined because it is always associated with an artistic-creative achievement; as such, it is completely unprotected and can be freely used and misused by anyone. Interested customers should actually know that the use of the word design as a marketing prefix should always give rise to suspicion. Designer glasses, designer lamps, designer furniture or designer kitchens may be reliably priced above average, but they are not necessarily the better products in terms of most of their features. Design often becomes an additive here, an application that can be scaled at will. The customer falls for it a few times, pays the price and learns his lesson.
Oru Kayak — Model Haven Tandem
In diametric contrast to this common perception of design is its self-image in the academic world. In the mission statements of the relevant educational institutions for the training of this profession, nothing less than saving the world appears as a minimum requirement. In any case, the graduates of at least this particular institution always create the solution in their later professional lives and definitely never the problem. The formulated principles often and quite naturally include a paternalistic claim to education, which is often presented to the interested parties as a reassuring tautology of design and working for the good. Of course, it is very practical for one’s own karma alone to pursue a profession that automatically makes any further strenuous analysis of the complex consequences of one’s own actions superfluous. Certainly, one or two sectors such as fashion design or automotive design are somewhat under suspicion here, but the generous use of well-written adjectives such as sustainable at least straightens this out lyrically. Here, too, there is a steep edge, because a high number of applicants ensures quality and resources and, last but not least, the raison d’être. Greenwashing here and there––chercher du marketing!
The legal defencelessness of the concept of design allows it to be bent beyond recognition at its edges. From an ideologized promise of salvation to a pure marketing instrument. This would be less alarming if these extremes did not have a disproportionately large effect on the image of design in their respective areas of perception. And here it is appropriate to bring the concept of just-rightness into play. It is about nothing less than the substance of design, which is always formed in interaction, always dependent on successful cooperation with technology and––if it is a product––with marketing. Dieter Rams’ dictum can also be read as a challenge to design to be as cooperative and minimally invasive as possible in this interaction. The danger of making oneself superfluous as a designer through this demand for reduction seems to have been averted today. Over the decades, design has constantly increased its depth of intervention in these work objects and processes, is increasingly asserting its competence as early as the conception phase, is even in demand as a model for methodology in the solution of complex tasks and is increasingly becoming a hinge at the point where all forces come together. In this position, with a sense of proportion, it can make a significant contribution to ensuring that the things of our everyday lives are neither overloaded with meaning nor with decoration and that we focus on the essentials. What great things are created in this self-image that only reveal their value at second glance, but can last a long time––both technically and ideally. These are the objects that people like to have repaired or buy a second time after losing them––favorite things. They have to work, not be overly fashionable, repairable, adaptable, should not lose (or even gain) in aesthetics through wear and tear and draw their positive image and ultimately the reputation from all these characteristics, which ensures that you feel well-dressed with them, literally or figuratively.
Audi A6, C5 series (1997-2005)
The design of the Audi A6 of the C5 model series (1997 – 2005) by the outstanding German automotive designer Claus Potthoff is one of the cars in recent history that can be measured by such standards––by no means the rule in the eclectic world of automotive design. As such, it is one of those designs that is highly likely to deteriorate as a result of any subsequent intervention. Nothing on the A6 is too much, everything is in its place, proportions and volume are perfect. The original model did not even need the tailpipes of the exhaust system, which are often image-defining in this market segment. All around, inside and out, the design is based on the horizontal, all lines are two-degree (geometrically defined by just three points) and the details are also geometrically derived. There is no icing. It is actually a design with an unlimited shelf life––were it not for the logic of the market and the constant pressure to change––to explicitly avoid the term »Innovation«.
The Japanese company Ryōhin Keikaku is trying to elevate just-rightness to a general, conceptual approach with the products of its MUJI brand. MUJI is the abbreviation of the term mujirushi ryōhin and means something like unbranded quality goods and elevates reduction to the dictum of design. It is hardly surprising that this idea should arise in Japan in particular, as restraint and moderation are deeply rooted in the social norms of Japanese society and are reflected in the principles of life that the majority aspire to, such as ikigai––literally translated, »iki« stands for »life« and »gai« for »value«. Furthermore, space––especially in the country’s large urban centers––is a precious commodity and extensive use is largely impossible because it is extremely expensive.
MUJI, electric kettle MJ-EK5A
As if they were conceived for the MUJI product range, the Californian company Oru Kayak takes just-rightness to the extreme with its products. The Oru designers redefine the outdated term »folding boat« to an unprecedented level. With boats made of translucent polypropylene flat material that are remarkably robust, comfortable, light, quick to assemble and disassemble, can actually be folded to the size of a sports bag for transportation and can be easily transported on the luggage rack of an average bicycle––or even tucked under your arm on the subway. Aesthetically, they can keep up with many a conservative rival product and the combination of transparent lightness and precise origami folding technique gives them an additional wow effect. And all of this is undoubtedly just-right, because there is definitely nothing left out of this product.
According to the Federal Statistical Office, a person in Europe owns around 10,000 things, in the USA three times as many. In 2010, the Japanese Marie Kondō published an internationally acclaimed guide on the subject of »tidying up«, in which she also ascribes a spiritual dimension to the evaluation of objects necessary for sorting them out. From a sober point of view, it is precisely this just-rightness that one grants the object or parts with it. Does this necessarily have to do with design? No, because the individual meaning of an object has different dimensions. Can it have something to do with design? Absolutely. This just-rightness––if you want to stick with the term––is something fundamentally individual, the result of a negotiation between product and user, which can turn out differently and can also take a long time. A product––be it a T-shirt or a car––can actually achieve great environmental friendliness in the course of its history of use simply because this history takes a long time. In other words, the product is not disposed of and replaced by a new one, but rather maintained and repaired and thus becomes an integral and indispensable part of this very life – regardless of whether it was intended by its creators to save the world.
Modern smartphones, such as the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip5, also celebrate the disappearance of things: they are no longer just phones, but mobile computers, photo and video cameras, games consoles, navigation devices, wallets, calculators and torches and countless other things – an astonishing efficiency in terms of space and resource requirements.
And in this sense, even our omnipresent smartphones consistently take further steps on the path to reduction. Quite independently of their mostly interchangeable physical appearance, they celebrate the disappearance of things. They are a telephone, computer, photo and video camera, calculator and torch, measuring tape, compass, key, radio, loudspeaker, games console, navigation device, book, clock, calendar, diary and much more all in one. Although they usually can’t do all this as well and rarely better than the dedicated specialists, are always an ergonomic compromise and rarely the choice of professionals, they are catching up surprisingly quickly. Software is easier to modify than hardware. If you dispose of all these items simulated by the smartphone or don’t buy them in the first place, you will achieve astonishing efficiency in terms of space and resource requirements. It’s worth taking a look at which ones are just right. Could the rest possibly go?
Article FIRST PUBLISHED IN CHAPTER №X »STATE OF THE ART« – SUMMER 2023/24
