In the early 1920s, company founder Max Braun had made his entrepreneurial start by manufacturing radio componentry. By 1929 the canny Braun was producing complete radio sets of his own design. In 1934, the "A" in the center of the Braun logo (above) was shaped to resemble their art-deco-styled Cosmophon 333 radio (below).

As was and is the Braun hallmark, technical sophistication married with innovative design would mark the category. As early as 1932, Max Braun had created a combination radio-phonograph, this at a time when radios with a built-in speaker was still a fairly new idea.

But it wasn't until the mid-1950s that the company, under the stewardship of Max's sons Erwin and Artur, began forming a proper design department combining the foci of several talented individuals. Through their collaboration, drive, and relentless experimentation, the company began producing audio goods that moved firmly into what we would later think of as MoMA territory. And they would take some wild chances along the way.

1955
SK 1
Artur Braun, Fritz Eichler

This design storm began around 1955, with Artur Braun and Fritz Eichler's SK 1 tabletop radio. The relatively tiny device could be placed on a windowsill and was a sharp departure from the gaudy visual clutter of other radios of the era. There was a dial and two unlabeled control knobs set into one side of a rational grid of dots for the speaker, and the barest hint of fins on the bottom for the device to stand on. (The grid of dots, by the way, would appear time and again in a variety of Braun products of all categories.)

Image courtesy of Das Programm, specialist sellers of Braun Design, 1955–1995

1955
G 11
Hans Gugelot

While the SK 1 was radical, the company had still not yet given up on the idea of using wooden-bodied radios, as was the fashion of previous decades. But Hans Gugelot's sleek G 11 design deviated wildly from the baroque "music furniture" that consumers were familiar with. It also contained a design innovation that would come to influence the product category: The side edges were completely flat and the same dimensions top and bottom. If a consumer purchased the corresponding G 12 turntable, they could stack it atop the G 11.

Every student of industrial design ought study Braun's line of timepieces. The sheer variety and innovation, on both the design and technical fronts, that the company was able to inject into something as simple as a time-telling device is staggering; Braun was obsessing over minute bevels and visual clarity years before smartphone manufacturers sought to differentiate one glass rectangle from another. The ability to so resoundingly distinguish a small circle on your wrist from other offerings on the marketplace is a testament to Braun's unrivaled championing of industrial design. Many of the objects they created have a quality of inevitableness to them, as if they had chipped away at all distractions and arrived at a universally perfect product, with nothing anyone could possibly add—or subtract—to improve them. Yet they continually updated their offerings for more than two decades, with a deep product line-up that would keep many a design curator busy.

On the subject of curation: The fact that every industrial design student does not study Braun's timepieces is probably because no one has compiled a comprehensive record of all of them. While we attempt to address that here, there are many models that we missed for want of images or information. The line is simply too large, the rare models too elusive. But we hope this will provide you with some sense of the deep mark that Braun made on what was formerly a staid product category.

Image courtesy of Das Programm, specialist sellers of Braun Design, 1955–1995

1971
phase 1
Dieter Rams, Dietrich Lubs

Braun's first clock was the relatively primitive phase 1. Clearly a first effort, it gave no hint as to the breadth of design variety to come. It featured numbers printed on little plaques attached to a mechanical rotating mechanism. That being the case, the body was large while the numbers were small; a trade-off the designers would not be willing to live with for long.

1972
phase 2
Dietrich Lubs

By 1972 they had switched over to a flip-clock mechanism, whose tighter mechanicals enabled a smaller form and a larger display. In the phase 2 we see the design team gaining mastery over the technology in order to improve the user experience. But they were not done yet; this form factor was still driven by its mechanical innards, which they would soon discard altogether. Cutting-edge technology was in the works for what would be their radical release of 1975.

1972
phase 3
Dietrich Lubs

At the same time they put the phase 2 on the market, Braun also dipped into the analog clock pool, releasing this compact phase 3 alarm clock. It bears virtually nothing in common with the phase 1 and phase 2, despite being released at nearly the same time; but it illustrates the design team's freedom to experiment, a characteristic Braun quality that would pay off time and again. The analog form factor would evolve into objects that collectors would treasure.

Image courtesy of Das Programm, specialist sellers of Braun Design, 1955–1995

1975
functional
Dietrich Lubs

By 1975 Braun's gorgeous functional was ready to go. As the mechanicals were now supplanted by eletronics, it no longer featured bulky innards that needed to be stuffed into a box; Dietrich Lubs took full advantage of this, creating a clock comprised of two slim, intersecting components. The rear, horizontal portion houses the circuit boards and supports the buttons (which were raised, so they could be located in the dark). The front portion held the gas discharge display, which was angled upwards for easy legibility.

Also note the self-restraint: The sleek, black display with its slick red numbers would have looked cluttered with the white Braun logo, so instead the logo was moved behind the screen, to the top of the unit.

Clockwise from top: Josh Rigg won our "Good Design Is Long Lasting" competition back in 2011 with this drawing of the Sixtant BN (1967); Cassett (1970); Sixtant Color (1971); Silk-épil EE-1 (1989); SM5 Commander (1963)... read on for more on each one

Shaving has been around for a long time. In the 4th Century B.C. Alexander the Great, an early proponent of shaving, ordered his troops to do it. Alexander had observed that beards were a martial liability for soldiers; if you didn't remove your own facial hair, your opponent would do it for you—by using your beard to grab your face.

Two dozen centuries later, in 1930s Germany, a fellow named Max Braun was also concerned with removing men's facial hair, though in a more civilized manner: Using precision-machined blades and a small electric motor. Using an electric machine rather than water and lather to shave your face was a fairly new concept, with the electric razor having been invented only the decade before in America; but Braun knew he had the technological know-how to produce a competitive device.

That was because Braun was already on the cutting edge, if you'll pardon the pun, of manufacturing; he'd been running his own successful engineering and manufacturing firm since 1921, cranking out radio components and eventually, entire radio sets. By the late 1930s Braun had completed his own novel design for an electric razor, and worked out how it would be produced. Unfortunately, there was also a war brewing, and all German industry was shortly pressed into miltary service. Braun's electric razor was shelved for the time being. Whereas war had promoted shaving in Alexander's time, during Braun's, it temporarily sidetracked it.

Nevertheless Braun stuck to his goals, and rebuilt his factory after it was destroyed in the war. By the late 1940s he had rebuilt his operation, and by 1950, he finally embarked on his mission to see the world filled with clean-shaven men using Braun products. The innovations his company spawned changed men's shaving forever.

Let's start at the beginning.

Image courtesy of Sammlung Design

1950
S 50
Max Braun

The S 50, Braun's first electric razor, was an auspicious start for the category. Max Braun had developed a key design innovation: Whereas competitor's models had a comb-like metal layer that shielded the user's skin from the blades beneath it, the S 50 featured a thin, perforated metal foil that covered the cutting blades. When the user placed this surface against his face, his facial hair went through the holes and was trimmed by the blades. This foil was thinner than the metal combs on incumbent devices from Schick and Remington, and therefore provided a closer shave. It was a clear-cut case of superior design and better manufacturing techniques providing a better product, and Braun's foil innovation in shavers persists to the current day.

1951
S 52
Max Braun, Artur Braun

Though the S 50 was a hit, Max Braun was not a man to rest on his laurels; working with youngest son Artur, who had apprenticed in the engineering department of the company, they quickly followed up with the S 52. It featured a wider shaving head, a more powerful motor and an aluminum casing. Sadly, Max Braun passed away shortly after completing this design.

Braun has been a benchmark for beautiful and functional design from its founding as an audio manufacturer in the '30s, to the debut of the S50 shaver in the '50s and including its current innovations in personal care like CoolTec dry shaver for sensitive skin. The undeniable influence of the era of Eichler and the Ulm School of Design on the role of design in business includes Dieter Rams' iconic "less is more" aesthetic." From personal care to audio, timepieces to kitchen appliances, the Braun brand permeates our most personal every day products.

Core77 is proud to launch a microsite dedicated to the history of Braun design. Over the next few months, we'll be doing a deep dive on the histories of Braun's Shavers, Time Pieces, Audio, Kitchen Appliances and Hair Care product categories. And today, we're launching with an interactive timeline of some of Braun's notable products from its storied design history. In addition, we have a full gallery of the most recent BraunPrize winners—the work has been honored for its "genius design for a better everyday."

Global Gold Winner, Professional/Enthusiast - Känguru, designed by Berlin-based designer Oliver Klein. It is a Mobility Concept for the Urban Context—a baby carrier and bicycle seat in one.

Established in 1968, the BraunPrize was Germany's first international design prize. It was originally introduced by Erwin Braun, son of Braun founder Max Braun, and the goal was to stimulate public debate about design, "during a time when understanding and awareness of design and its positive benefits were largely unknown." This year's program was juried by Oliver Grabes (Head of Braun Design and Core77 Design Awards Consumer Products Jury Captain), Naoto Fukasawa (Founder of Naoto Fukasawa Design), Jane Fulton Suri (Managing Partner and Creative Director at IDEO), Anne Bergner (BraunPrize Winner 1999 and Design Consultant) and Dirk Freund (Director R&D, Global Braun).

This year's program awarded 6 finalists, 3 Sustainability Award Winners, 30 National Winners and 20 Special Mentions across Student and Professional categories.

See our coverage of the 2012 BraunPrize ceremony here and the full gallery of the winners here.

>> Photo Gallery

Dezeen Watch Store: the BN0106 is the first watch in the Prestige collection by Braun at Dezeen Watch Store. This digital timepeice features a patented EasySkroll v 2.0 operating system, which is used to navigate through the variety of functions available on the watch.

The functions include two time and date displays, an alarm, a stopwatch and a countdown timer. The two time and date displays enable the wearer to monitor two time zones at once. Each function is easily navigated by rotating the scroll on the left hand side and adjusted by pushing the scroll in.

The watch is available with a rubber or stainless steel strap and comes with either a black or stainless steel face. A small button on the right hand side switches on the back light.

The watch is part of the iconic Braun collection at Dezeen Watch Store, now made under license by British brand Zeon. See the full collection here.

www.dezeenwatchstore.com

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