GESTALT-INGENIEUR


“I am troubled by the devaluing of the word ‘design’. I find myself now being somewhat embarrassed to be called a designer. In fact I prefer the German term, Gestalt-Ingenieur. Apple and Vitsoe are relatively lone voices treating the discipline of design seriously in all corners of their businesses. They understand that design is not simply an adjective to place in front of a product’s name to somehow artificially enhance its value. Ever fewer people appear to understand that design is a serious profession; and for our future welfare we need more companies to take that profession seriously.”

– Dieter Rams

 

The Gestalt Ingenieur is a title popularised by the most highly influential German designer Dieter Rams.

It gives us a way of thinking about an excellent designer as being one who has a good understanding of many different disciplines and spheres of study, who can then apply their specialist creative design ability to solving problems in a wide range of situations and media.

As you use this website to design, learn and grow it must be your focus to become a Gestalt Ingenieur with deep skills and abilities in a wide range of fields of study including new design thinking skills.

Contemporary designers in whom this term is exemplified include Thomas  Hardwick, Richard Seymour and Dick Powell, and Neri Oxman.

The most prolific, and almost unparalleled, 'Gestalt Ingenieur' of the renaissance was Leonardo DaVinci whose skills of design were evident in everything from painting and fresco, drawing and mechanical design, inventions and culinary excellence.