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NEW YORK (JUNE 2015) – On Thursday, July 9th, Japanese lifestyle brand MUJI will welcome esteemed product designer Naoto Fukasawa to The Village in San Francisco, California. This talk is part of the celebration for MUJI’s new 4,500 square feet store, opening in early August at the Stanford Shopping Center.
The talk entitled “Objective Thinking,” will explore in depth about Fukasawa’s design process and inspiration behind the exclusive products he created for MUJI, as well as about the product developments for many well-known brands and companies around the world.
Opening remarks will be made by Tim Brown, CEO and President of IDEO, a global design firm based in Palo Alto. Fukasawa acted as IDEO’s head of the Tokyo office in 1996 before becoming the product designer and advisory board member at MUJI in 2002.
Fukasawa’s clean aesthetic is an ideal match for MUJI’s rational design philosophy. The company name is short for Mujirushi Ryohin, which translates as “no-brand, quality goods.” This company value for simplicity and efficiency in their product development aligns perfectly with Fukasawa’s streamlined design aesthetic. He continues to bring his innovative and original vision through his latest product offerings including the pop-up toaster, rice cooker with paddle, and electric kettle.
ABOUT NAOTO FUKASAWA
Naoto Fukasawa has collaborated with the world’s leading companies and brands in countries such as Italy, France, Germany, Switzerland, Spain, Scandinavian countries and Asian countries, while consulting Japanese leading companies locally. His area of work is broad and he works with various fields in design beyond categories. His consulting work for Japanese companies are mainly focused on evaluating their cooperate strategies in line with the mean of sociality and how we define quality of life in order to direct the companies towards where society is inevitably heading. Such consulting work extends as far as to visualize design for their products which marks the company’s social responsibilities as well as to visualize their cooperate strategies and Fukasawa’s work for consulting has led them to many successful results.
Fukasawa lived and worked in San Francisco for seven and half years from 1989, and joined MUJI’s advisory board in 2002.
ABOUT TIM BROWN
Tim Brown is CEO and president of IDEO. He frequently speaks about the value of design thinking and innovation to business people and designers around the world. He participates in the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, and his talks Serious Play and Change by Design appear on TED.com.
An industrial designer by training, Tim has earned numerous design awards and has exhibited work at the Axis Gallery in Tokyo, the Design Museum in London, and the Museum of Modern Art in New York. He takes special interest in the convergence of technology and the arts, as well as the ways in which design can be used to promote the well-being of people living in emerging economies.
PRODUCT INFORMATION
RICE COOKER WITH RICE PADDLE
Retails for $195
Weight: 5.3lb
Size: H7.3 x W8.2 inches
Cooking capacity: 90 mL – 540 mL
Cord Length: 39.4 inches
POP-UP TOASTER
Retails for $95
Weight: 2.4lb
Size: H7.7 x W9.8 inches
Cord Length: 55.1 in
ELECTRIC KETTLE
Retails for $95
Weight: 2.4lb incl. base charger
Size: H 7.7 inches incl. base charger
Water Capacity: 500 milliliters
Cord Length: 55.1 inches
WALL MOUNTED CD PLAYER
Retails for $149
Weight: 1.2lb
Size: 6.9 x 1.6 x 6.9 inches
VALISE HARD CARRY TRAVEL SUITCASE
Retails for $175.50
SOFA BENCH
These are featured in the new Terminal 3 at Narita Airport.
EVENT INFORMATION
Thursday, July 9, 2015 5:30pm – 8:00pm (PDT)
The Village
969 Market Street, San Francisco, CA 94103