The MUJI project was a case study project of working for one of the most unique and intriguing companies in the design world. A brand that started as a local Japanese phenomenon and thanks to a unique vision on Production, market, identity etc… grew to be come a universal brand and an icon in the design world. The project was defined as a ‘case study’ project, meaning that it was self made and was not done with a commitment to/from MUJI (except for supplying basic support information) This detachment from the company was deliberate and aimed at giving the students more freedom in the work ‘with’ the company together with a more critical and honest view on their ‘client’. The original aim of the project was to create the imaginary product range of Muji.de (Muji Deutschland) Looking at MUJI as a Japanese brand that became universal, the students were to design the ‘German collection’ of MUJI. In the same way that MUJI offers general universal items mixed with more ‘Japanese items’, the aim was to adapt local (German) heritage and items into becoming universal Muji items. This project looks at MUJI as a universal brand and tries to see if a part of its future development could be to ‘localise’ , to have different ‘cultural items’ from different places, enriching its collection and widening MUJI’s cultural exchange through its objects.
After analysing the company and their product portfolio it is clear that a key feature of Muji is their containers, storage and cleaning untensiles. But what’s missing in their product line, at least in Europe, is a simple bucket. So we developed a container in the shape of an bucket, for the storage of matters. It consists of a watertight, vertical cylinder with about 12.15 liter capacity, a sink for the discharge of liquids and a handle. The handle is made out of the same aluminium wire like their famouse coat hanger.
