BRAUN - Fifty Years of Design and Innovation

Braun products have been shown more frequentlyat exhibitions than those of any other comparablecompany. Some people find that they reflectbasic human values such as authenticity and integrity.For others, they are the very incarnationof German perfectionism. Braun is not merely atrademark; it stands for an all encompassing concept.For the last five decades, this concept hasspawned innovative products with an unprecedentedregularity that begs to be explained - especiallyas the era spanned by the history ofBraun design is not exactly one characterized bycontinuity. Instead, the second half of the 20thcentury witnessed a dramatic change in livingconditions. Prosperity and greater ease enteredour daily lives, but also widespread disorientationand alienation. It is to the credit of those whoset the Braun design project in motion that theywere able to counteract this feeling of alienation -which manifested itself to them not least in poorlydesigned objects of daily use - with a vision ofdesign reform. There had already been attemptsmade along these lines. What was new was thata commercial enterprise spearheaded the movement.Also new was the systematic approach, theapplication of design principles to modern productsand the innovative dynamic thus triggered.Finally, the considerable commercial success thisdesign project enjoyed was likewise a revelation.All of this led the company to establish a designdepartment that was not merely an appendage,but rather an active decision-maker in the developmentof products from the initial idea to realization.This is how Braun and design became synonymous.Bernd Polster is one of the best-known Germandesign authors. Nearly all of his books have beentranslated into other languages as well. His mostrecent publications are German Design for ModernLiving (2008) und bauhaus design (2009). Duringhis university studies Polster tried to learn dialecticalthinking from philosopher Leo Kofler. He subsequentlytraded promising careers as centre