MUJI Wall-mounted CD player was designed in 1999 by a Japanese industrial designer Naoto Fukasawa (深澤 直人) and manufactured by Ryohin Keikaku Company, Ltd., which popularly known as Muji. It’s one of the world best iconic designs that play with human instinct through its form and function.
Form
The MUJI Wall-mounted CD Player was mimic its form from the motor-driven ventilation fans found in the kitchen. When you pull the cord, the blades start to spin, and when the rotations have stabilised, the sound of the wind will become constant. Just like a traditional CD player, once the CD rotations had stabilised, the sound will be performed constantly.
Function
Rather than have a normal on/off switch or compromise the design by having an on/off cord to be separate from a power cord, Fukasawa and the Muji team eventually decided to use the power cord as the switch like the ventilation fans. It complies with manufacturing standards and is strong enough to withstand the force of an adult pulling on it without detaching it from the CD player.
Bonus: MUJI’S CD player is a part of the permanent collection, MoMA New York.
“Design isn’t something that I generate, so much as something that already exists in situ; all I do is give it concrete form. ~Naoto Fukasawa”
