The collection
Black handheld calculator with digital display, brown switches, brown and black buttons with white markings, and a yellow button with a black equal sign.
1976

Calculator, Control, ET 22

Designed by
Dieter Rams (born 1932) and Dietrich Lubs (born 1938)
Material
Plastic
Produced by
Braun AG, Frankfurt, Germany
Dimensions
14.6 x 7.9 x 2.2 cm

The Liliane and David M. Stewart Program for Modern Design, bequest of Luc d’Iberville Moreau by exchange, 2017.5

Dieter Rams was a leading designer of industrial products at Braun from 1955 to 1995, and his designs made the Braun name synonymous with good design, summed up in his famous ten principles of good design. One is well expressed in this calculator: “Good design makes a product understandable.”

All the numerals are clearly indicated in convex white-on-black buttons, function buttons are in white symbols on brown, and the equal sign—perhaps the most-used function key—is black on a yellow button. This model ET 22, designed by Rams with Dietrich Lubs, is the second calculator in a series that began in 1975.

The Stewart Program for Modern Design, photo: Denis Farley.