Wall-mounted cd player for Muji, by IDEO.

Muji is a Japanese company offering products that stand out through their almost iconic, simple design. The website useful+agreeable describes Muji as follows:

The name Muji is short for Mujirushi Ryohin, which translates as “no brand, good product.” Muji was developed in the early 1980s as a private brand of the giant Seiyu discount department store, offering an antidote to the rampant brand mania in the Japanese economic “bubble” period

And Business Week supplies an interesting background article on Muji, accompanied by an appealing slideshow.

This post is part of a series about companies that focus on easy of use or 'simplicity'. Earlier posts included Philips, TeliaSonera, Vodafone and Nokia.

Technorati Tags: business and usability, consumer electronics, consumer product usability, consumer products, design, usability, usability marketing