plusminus zero is a joint project between Takara, the toy manufacturer, and Naoto Fukazawa, one of the most established industrial designer in Japan recently known as the principal desinger of INFOBAR cellular phone.
[graphics/japanese translation to be added later]
Most of today's consumer electronics devices have rather boring design. And the root for that problem is in the design process. As toy maker, Takara knows completely different approach.
And they certainly did. The first thing they have done was to choose the principal designer. Their choice was Naoto Fukazawa and with him they have created a new brand called: "plusminus zero" Diamond, a publisher in Japan also seem to be involved in this project.
Since then, the project seem to have evolved much bigger. They are planning to produce not only consumer electronics devices but also other daily things such as umbrellas, tables and notebooks.
plusminus zero had a small showcase in September, but after that, there wasn't much visible activities. . But on December 6, they have finally renewed and updated their web site. It has some information in English, so check it out!
Some of their products should become available as soon as this month.
P.S. as a result of this project, Fukazawa seem to have quited from IDEO JAPAN where he was heading until recently (IDEO still has Fukazawa on their web page).
