GOOD DESIGN AWARD

Keyword
Year awarded: To
Special Award
Company Info: Country / Region

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Award-winning item: Sound Logo [The sound of Earthquake Early Warning System]
Business Owner: NHK (Japan Broadcasting Corporation)
Category: Media
Company: NHK (Japan Broadcasting Corporation) (Japan)
Award Number: 20G181182
Outline of Good Design Award winners: Outline of Good Design Award winners 2020

Outline* The shown information is the one as of the awarded date and might has been changed.

Outline: When the Japan Meteorological Agency's Earthquake Early Warning is issued, NHK uses this sound for letting people know that a strong tremor is expected, and urging people to prepare for it.
Producer: Disaster & Safety Information Center, NHK
Director: Department of Sound Design, Design Center, NHK
Designer: Supervised by Science and Technology Research Laboratories, NHK (Guest Researcher Toru Ifukube, Professor Emeritus of the University of Tokyo)
More information: https://www.nhk.or.jp/sonae/bousai/howtochaim.html
Already in service/use: 2007/10/1

Evaluation

With the digitalization of various things around us and the proliferation of information that cannot be communicated solely by visual means, sound design is going to become increasingly important. As a sound that is instantly noticeable to everyone who hears it, yet encourages people to act calmly without panicking, the Earthquake Early Warning chime is, we believe, one of the most outstanding examples of design that protects human life.