Both a manufacturer and brand, Plus Minus Zero was co-founded by industrial designer Naoto Fukasawa in Japan in 2003, with the idea to design products that do not raise people’s expectations about function directly through design, but improve the quality of the users lives in a more general way. The brand name seems to refer to the concept of creating design that is just right, that is complete only when nothing can be added or subtracted to improve it. The brand focuses on small household appliances and electronics, but has also produced tableware and items like the Sole Bag, a simple white tote made to rest firmly on the ground, its bottom designed as the treaded sole of a shoe. Ignoring sylistic trends, Plus Minus Zero designs are characterized by minimalism and attention to detail, and can display the designer’s subtle sense of humor as well.
Fukasawa, Naoto, ed. Naoto Fukasawa. London: Phaidon Press Limited, 2007.
http://www.blueprintmagazine.co.uk/index.php/design/japanese-housewares-brand-plus-minus-zero/
http://www.dwell.com/organization/plus-mimu-zero
