Product Fitness 80: MUJI Exhibition at Design Museum

Event Date: 09/03/2012

Do you think about what goes into making the products you buy – about the amount of materials used, or about the energy that goes into the production? What impact would there be if we could less materials and energy to make products? It’s not something one often thinks about – but when natural disasters occur in the world, it gives us just cause to take stock of our existence on the planet and what, if anything, we can do to make it more harmonious. March 11 will mark the one-year anniversary – for lack of a more tasteful term – of the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami, and in line with this, Muji are presenting a display at the Design Museum to re-evaluate the art and ethics of product design. The consequences of the natural disaster and perpetuating worry about the power plant damage impelled Muji to reconsider how design can impact on our use of energy. They approach this idea with the products displayed in their exhibition: Product Fitness 80. The hypothesis behind it is: ‘what would happen if we used 20% less materials and energy in the actual process of making products?’ – and thus explains the peculiar exhibition title. The ‘No Brand Quality Goods’ company are about affordable minimalism – it concentrates on re-using and recycling products. They have always had a focus for design that is simply fit for purpose – but not without concentrated craftsmanship. The products they have developed for Product Fitness 80 use less materials, energy and packaging to embody the ideal that ‘less is more’. They’ve added more purpose to their usual mid-design questions like: “Is this necessary?” since the earthquake disaster. It put more perspective on the importance of harmonising ‘monozukuri’ – which is Japanese for craftsmanship – with moderation. Considered, are aspects in addition to the finished article – Muji put equal importance into the integrity of their production. They consider the amount of materials needed, the packaging, and even the consequences of excessive volume and weight of products during the manufacturing and transport process. The exhibition displays archives of their work, prototypes and also products that are not available in Europe. This includes: a recycled aluminium refillable pen, a memo pad made from 50% recycled paper, a refillable acrylic tissue box, and even a compostable DIY cardboard children's chair. Product Fitness 80 will be on display at London’s Design Museum from the 9th to the 18th of March this year. And a bonus for anyone still harbouring a Muji receipt somewhere, is that admission is free.