Process
The Good Design Award takes place once a year.
Below is a brief outline of the stages involved in this process from the submission of the applications through the final awards ceremony.
Jury Committee begin the screening process by reviewing submitted applications.
This first screening is based on the data provided at the time the application was submitted. At this stage, jury determine whether a product satisfies award criteria and eliminate entries for immature products or notably crude designs and entries otherwise deemed ineligible.
The core screening for the Good Design Award takes place at an exhibit hall (Tokyo Big Sight) at the end of August each year.
During this stage of the screening, jury actively seek out the "outstanding aspects" of each entry in their efforts to judge the level of design quality for the products under consideration. Standing in front of the actual products themselves, each jury scrutinizes entries, judging them according to a list of criteria developed to uphold specific screening standards. The jury debate and confer among themselves, and through repeated discussion reach a consensus on which products will receive a Good Design Award.
In certain cases, an additional screening process, involving presentations by designers or on-site examinations of architectural pieces and other works, may also be conducted. The public was invited to attend the hearing on passenger car design presentation held since 2002, for instance. Once the screening process is complete, the exhibit hall is opened to the public for the Good Design Presentation Fair.
The Special Awards Adjudication is held in September.
At this meeting, all of the products previously selected for a Good Design Award are reevaluated, and the winners of the Gold Prize, Theme Prizes (consisting of three separate awards - the Ecology Design Prize, Universal Design Prize, and Interaction Design Prize), and other special awards are chosen. The lineup of special awards winners represents the year's 20 best product designs.
Attended by the Jury Chairman and Vice-chairman, as well as leaders in each of the individual screening categories and units, the adjudication meeting is the scene of extensive and intense debate, at the end of which the winners are chosen from among the products nominated for a special award during the second stage of the standard Good Design Award screening process. Once all of the special awards have been determined, a list of candidates for the Grand Prize is drawn up.
Winners of Good Design Award may use G-mark logo as a proof of award for promotional and publicity related activities.
G-mark can be used to promote awarded items in a wide range of ways, such as advertisements, catalogs, product packaging, sales promotional goods, in-store POP displays, and on web pages.
Winners may use G-mark by applying and paying usage fee.
Applications
Each year in early April, the regulations for that particular year are posted on the G-Mark web site. Applications are submitted for consideration to this web site, and the deadline for submission is set around late May or sometimes early June. (In addition to this standard application process, designers may also in certain circumstances be enlisted by jury to submit applications for consideration.)
First Screening
This first screening is based on the data provided at the time the application was submitted. At this stage, jury determine whether a product satisfies award criteria and eliminate entries for immature products or notably crude designs and entries otherwise deemed ineligible.
Second Screening
During this stage of the screening, jury actively seek out the "outstanding aspects" of each entry in their efforts to judge the level of design quality for the products under consideration. Standing in front of the actual products themselves, each jury scrutinizes entries, judging them according to a list of criteria developed to uphold specific screening standards. The jury debate and confer among themselves, and through repeated discussion reach a consensus on which products will receive a Good Design Award.
In certain cases, an additional screening process, involving presentations by designers or on-site examinations of architectural pieces and other works, may also be conducted. The public was invited to attend the hearing on passenger car design presentation held since 2002, for instance. Once the screening process is complete, the exhibit hall is opened to the public for the Good Design Presentation Fair.
Special Awards Adjudication
At this meeting, all of the products previously selected for a Good Design Award are reevaluated, and the winners of the Gold Prize, Theme Prizes (consisting of three separate awards - the Ecology Design Prize, Universal Design Prize, and Interaction Design Prize), and other special awards are chosen. The lineup of special awards winners represents the year's 20 best product designs.
Attended by the Jury Chairman and Vice-chairman, as well as leaders in each of the individual screening categories and units, the adjudication meeting is the scene of extensive and intense debate, at the end of which the winners are chosen from among the products nominated for a special award during the second stage of the standard Good Design Award screening process. Once all of the special awards have been determined, a list of candidates for the Grand Prize is drawn up.
Award Announcement
On October 1, designated Design Day, a press conference is held, and all Good Design Award winners, as well as the Gold Prize and other special award winners, are announced. The list of all award winners is publicized globally over the G-Mark website on the same day the press conference is held.
In a parallel process, individual award winners hold their own press conferences and post the news on their own websites to publicize the fact that their company has been honored with a Good Design Award.
Awards Ceremony and Selection of Grand Prize Winner
1Toward the end of October, the Good Design Award Ceremony, attended by the minister of Economy, Trade and Industry and other officials, is held and the winner of the Grand Prize is selected. To win the Good Design Grand Prize it is not enough that a design be the most outstanding nominated. This award is intended to single out the design that best addresses the latest design issues and excites a broad segment of society with a vision for the future. The Good Design Grand Prize winner is chosen by ballot, with all jurors and Good Design Award winners eligible to vote.
Good Design Award Yearbook
The Good Design Award Yearbook profiles all award winners from a particular year. Intended as a public record of the year's Good Design Awards, the yearbook is published toward the end of December, with a separate publication, entitled Watashi no eranda ippin (My Personal Favorite), containing critiques by jury of individual award-winning designs.
Disclosure on the Good Design database
JIDPO publishes online database called "Good Design Finder", with the aim of utilizing the achievements of the Good Design Award as a shared resource for Japanese Design. Not only is this database searchable for information on the approximately 32,000 winners of Good Design Award during its 50 years history, but particularly for recent years it is also possible to view information on the designer's thought process, jury's evaluation, and opinions from users concerning each entry.
Utilization of G-mark
G-mark can be used to promote awarded items in a wide range of ways, such as advertisements, catalogs, product packaging, sales promotional goods, in-store POP displays, and on web pages.
Winners may use G-mark by applying and paying usage fee.
Good Design Award is operated by Japan Industrial Design Promotion Organization