Brother, a company founded in Japan in 1908, is now a successful multinational corporation with a wealth of experience in manufacturing technological articles with a product range including printers, facsimile machines, multifunction products, electronic labelers, and sewing and embroidering machines.

With some 20,000 employees and annual revenues of over 4 billion dollars, Brother has an established presence in over 100 countries around the world. The Italian branch, headquartered in Cassina de’ Pecchi (Milan), was founded in 1989.

Originally operating a sewing machine repair shop in Nagoya, Japan, in 1908 the Yasui brothers reorganized their business to become direct producers of sewing machines, naming their new adventure "Brother", in the name of the important bond uniting them. The business grew steadily over the ensuing years, expanding to America and Europe while developing new product areas, such as typewriters, with electronic models coming out in the 1970s. In the following decade, Brother began producing their first laser printers and fax machines, and then went on to introduce their first labeling machines.

Thanks to a constant R&D effort, for example in laser and ink-jet printer technology, Brother is now one of the world’s major manufacturers of communications instruments, while preserving their pre-eminent role in sewing and embroidering machines, now endowed with advanced technology.

 

Brother has won 133 Good Design Awards, including 3 special prizes, in product design.

 

Brother Industries Ltd.

15-1, Naeshiro-cho, Mizuho-ku, Nagoya, 467 8561 Aichi, Japan

 

 

Exhibit items

JP16-103 is a portable electric typewriter using Daisy Wheel technology. Compact and highly portable, this typewriter is designed for maximum ease of use.

 

Designer: Kazuo Ito

Award Year: 1981

 

The JP16-701 electronic typewriter is distinguished by its characteristic wedge shape. Its practical design with carrying handle, case, and power cord stowage compartment has become a worldwide standard for portable typewriters.  

 

Designers: Takuo Hirano/ Hirano Design, Kazuo Ito/Brother

Award Year: 1983

The Brother HL-5240 is a space-saving, high performance, black-and-white laser printer characterized by easy-to-use technical features, functionality, and attractive design. It prints up to 28 ppm with a maximum resolution of 1200 dpi, and has a 16 MB memory expandable to 528 MB. The printer is designed to print on A4 format paper. The paper tray contains up to 50 sheets but may be expanded to 750 sheets.

 

Designers: Shigeharu Katayama, Yasutake Yamaguchi, Toshiya Inada, Aiko Hasegawa, Saori Akimoto

 

The PT-24 (PT-2700VP in Europe/US) is a high quality product both for its captivating design with its streamlined form and metallic finish, and for its functionality. The tilted LCD display and keyboard enhances visibility and offers the best ergonomic working position. The large character, high contrast display is very easy to read.

 

A highly functional labeler with a metallic finish, the PT-1280 represents a high threshold of quality among products available on the market. The control panel is specially designed to optimize ease of use.