Blu Dot was established in 1997 by three college friends—two architects and a sculptor—in a 300- square-foot space in Minneapolis. Co-founders John Christakos, Maurice Blanks and Charlie Lazor set out to inspire a more creative way of living through good design that’s good to everyone. Today, led by Christakos and Blanks, Blu Dot continues to be a purpose-driven enterprise that offers a wide array of desirable and practical modern designs and in 2018 was awarded the National Design Award from the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum. In addition to their online shop at bludot.com, the brand has 16 retail stores in the U.S., Mexico, and Australia. Blu Dot’s work has been shown at the Museum of Modern Art, the Centre Pompidou, and the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum. Their book Less is More (Difficult): 20 Years of Design at Blu Dot was released by Rizzoli in 2018 and chronicles the evolution of the brand. Now in its 26th year, Blu Dot remains deeply connected to its hometown of Minneapolis as well as its mission of making good design more accessible.