San Francisco Museum of Modern Art

What would Apple's iconic spare designs be were it not for the influential hand of German industrial designer Dieter Rams? Working with his Ten Principles of Good Design, Rams served as lead designer for appliance company Braun, showing household products could combine innovation, usefulness, and quiet beauty.

Many of Rams's Braun products are on exhibit at museums worldwide, and we took a firsthand look at his and the company's early technology designs during San Francisco Museum of Modern Art's recent exhibit "Less and More: The Design Ethos of Dieter Rams." View our Instagram snaps from the collection and spot the principles of design still used today in the slideshow. If you ever come across some retro gadget inspiration, tag it on Instagram with #CoolCapture for a chance to be featured on the site!

When I was invited to tour the SFMOMA's "How Wine Became Modern" exhibit — which YumSugar visited in November — I wasn't quite sure how relevant it would be to my field of art, design, decorating, and architecture — you know, considering that it's about wine. I thought, "Maybe there'll be some cute tabletop decanters to decorate with." What I expected was a discussion about how wine had marked its place in contemporary culture and everyday life (cocktail parties, conversation, television, etc.), rather than in the broad world of modern design. Both, as it turns out, are true.

Leaving the exhibit, I couldn't help but think about how much the fields of modern design and architecture are under the influence of that buzz-inducing grape juice. From industrial design to photography to sculpture, there are dozens of artworks related to the topic that are not only beautiful and thought provoking, but also created by some of the most influential artists of our time. Like the exhibit's curator, Henry Urbach, who admitted he had no interest in wine or winemaking before dreaming up the project, you don't even have to like wine (or even drink) to enjoy this show; the artwork alone is intoxicating.