Hasta La Ideas

Japanese designer Naoto Fukasawa, who appeared in our latest movie filmed as part of Dezeen and MINI World Tour, is behind the minimal design of this mobile phone made by Japanese company KDDI (+ movie).

Fukasawa, also known for his work with for Japanese brand MUJI, came up with a slim, slightly curved aluminium frame for his latest Infobar phone for KDDI’s design series au.

The Infobar A02’s user interface is iida 2.0, a KDDI-developed version of Android that allows users to customise their home screen with their favourite content.

Fukasawa worked with the interface designers to make the phone simple to use and understand. “The movement or manipulation is very intuitive,” he explains in the movie (below). “So people don’t need to read any kind of manual or anything – you intuitively understand.”

Like Windows Phone 8, iida is based on a scrolling screen of variously sized tiles, while the sounds were created by Japanese pop star Cornelius. The buttons on the side of the phone are designed to line up with the tiles displayed on the screen.

The phone launches next month and comes in three colour options: grey, blue and a combination of red, white and lilac inspired by Japanese koi carp.

This isn’t the first phone Fukasawa has created for KDDI – the Infobar 2, which featured buttons in different colours, appeared in 2007.

Fukasawa discussed the impact of digital technology on furniture design in a movie we filmed in Milan last month for Dezeen and MINI World Tour.

Recent work by Fukasawa we’ve published includes a set of minimal dials to monitor air temperature, pressure and humidity and a wooden stool with a steel footrest – see all design by Naoto Fukasawa.

Other phones we’ve featured include a mobile that charges using the heat in your pocket and another that’s powered by sugary drinks – see all mobile phones on Dezeen.

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for KDDI appeared first on Dezeen.