Outline
RegulationsOrganizer and SupportersOur IdealsScreening perspectivesProject Policies for this yearTypes of AwardsMessages
Regulations
"Principal Implementation Regulations for the GOOD DESIGN AWARD 2022" stipulate the outline of the GOOD DESIGN AWARD 2022 project. In accordance with the principal implementation regulations, various relevant regulations are prescribed.
Organizer and Supporters
Japan Institute of Design Promotion (JDP)
Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry / The Small and Medium Enterprise Agency / Tokyo Metropolitan Government / The Japan Chamber of Commerce and Industry / Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO) / ASEAN Promotion Centre on Trade, Investment and Tourism / Nihon Keizai Shimbun / NHK / World Design Organization
Our Ideals
Screening perspectives
Whether due considerations, including usability, understandability, friendliness, etc., are given to users
Whether various considerations, including safety, security, environment, physically weak persons, etc., are given to maintain the credibility
Whether the design gains the sympathy of users
Whether the design has attractiveness and induces users’ creativity
Whether issues are skillfully solved by using new technology and materials or through creativity
Whether the entry is reasonably designed or planned with appropriate technology, method, and quality
Whether the entry contributes to the creation of a new industry or business
Whether the entry contributes to the creation of new cultures, such as a new method, lifestyle, communication, etc.
Whether the entry contributes to the realization of the sustainable society
Whether the entry suggests new value, such as a new method, concept, style, etc. to society
Whether the entry puts past contexts and accumulated achievements to propose new value.
Whether the entry proposes a highly sustainable solution from medium- and long-term perspectives.
Whether the entry represents continual improvements in accordance with the times.
Project Policies for this year
Recognising that expectations for design have risen, as the number of applications for the GOOD DESIGN AWARD 2022 increased significantly last year, the award was implemented with the aim of further questioning the potential of design and demonstrating its achievements to society at large. The main points are as follows
Promotion of domestic and international applications
In response to a particular increase in applications from SMEs last year, interviews with the 2021 winners and chairpersons were published during the application period in media with a readership of both young managers from start-ups and executives from major companies, and which have both magazine and web presence, in order to promote the merits of the award and the advantages of the award and the functions of the GOOD DESIGN AWARD. Call for entry advertisements on the web and social networking services were also intensively implemented to reach new applicants in particular. Furthermore, from this year, the same measures were implemented not only in Japanese, but also in English and Korean.
Online seminars were also held several times to familiarize people with the screening perspective of the GOOD DESIGN AWARD and the thinking of the chairpersons.
In Mainland China and Taiwan, where the number of applications was particularly high, we promoted information and transmission in Chinese in cooperation with local media partners and held online information sessions and one-to-one consultations.
Implementation of evolved award promotion
As in previous years, we did not exhibit all of the awarded works, but planned a month-long exhibition at the Tokyo Midtown Design Hub, focusing on the GOOD DESIGN BEST100 works. During the exhibition period, a pop-up shop where the awarded works can be purchased in Tokyo Midtown was also planned.
For the first time in three years, we planned to hold the GOOD DESIGN AWARD Ceremony, GRAND AWARD Election as a hybrid of face-to-face and online events, creating an opportunity to share the joy of the awards with the winners.
Strengthening the dissemination of information on project results
The number of followers of the GOOD DESIGN AWARD accounts on social networking services such as Facebook and Instagram has been increasing year by year. This year, we continued to disseminate information via SNS as a medium to familiarize the general public with the GOOD DESIGN AWARD and the awarded works.
Types of Awards
GOOD DESIGN AWARD consists of GOOD DESIGN AWARD together with GOOD DESIGN GRAND AWARD, GOOD DESIGN GOLD AWARD, and GOOD FOCUS AWARD selected from all award winners. GOOD DESIGN AWARD is presented to entries recognized as excellent designs from among all screened items, and then 100 winners with superior designs are chosen as GOOD DESIGN BEST100. Next, the Judging Committee chooses winners of GOOD DESIGN GOLD AWARD and GOOD FOCUS AWARD as well as finalists for the GOOD DESIGN GRAND AWARD from the GOOD DESIGN BEST100. The winner of GOOD DESIGN GRAND AWARD is chosen from the finalists for that award voting by the judges, GOOD DESIGN AWARD winners, and others.
Messages
2022/4/1
Congratulations on winning the GOOD DESIGN AWARD.
There were 5,715 entries this year. The number of applications was almost the same as that of last year when it increased by about 1,000. I feel the growing awareness and momentum of people who want to improve their lives and society through design. This year's GOOD DESIGN AWARD focuses on the theme "From Cross-Interaction toward Symphony" based on our idea that the symphony of these people's willpower and creativity will increase the power of design many times.
As a result, the number of GOOD DESIGN AWARD awarded works was over 1500. I was impressed that the number of designs to eliminate various "gaps" increased, while that of designs useful for daily life during the COVID-19 pandemic also increased. Gaps are manifested by distinctions and divisions. However, I realized that there is a potential gap that I am not aware of.
For example, UNI-ONE is seated hands-free mobility that eliminates the physical and psychological gap between wheelchair users and people without physical disabilities. Wheelchair users and people without physical disabilities are unaware of their differences when using UNI-ONE.
Magical Dagashiya Tyrol-Do is also one of them. It provides a place where any child can get support without being concerned about differences in their environment, by eliminating consciousness of helping and being helped, through the intervention of an in-store currency called "Tyrol."
What UNI-ONE and Tyrol-Do have in common is the elimination of unconscious "gaps" by rendering physical or economic distinctions and divisions meaningless. This differs from traditional universal design and welfare activities that are altruistic designs just to help the vulnerable live.
I feel the same concept in LinkBuds. People with visual impairments can stroll around using LinkBuds and getting online information. This is made possible by not only open-ear headphones, but also a non-visual interface that can be operated by tapping the fingers around the ear.
Gaps are synonymous with walls, frames, and ditches. Eliminating them means creating a flat state with good visibility. That's where the fluidity of all things will increase, and people's "From Cross-Interaction toward Symphony" will become even more active.
Mask wearing and social distance have created new gaps during the pandemic. On the other hand, remote work has eliminated geographic separation. The key to design is to find out whether these losses or gains are good or not. We have lost and gained. Through the results of this year's awards, I feel that there is an even greater need for designs that eliminate tangible and intangible gaps so that all people can have comfortable lives.
2022/4/1
GOOD DESIGN AWARD 2021 served as a great meeting place for "aspirations and actions with consideration.” More than ever before, people needed the power of design and interacted with each other, which led to the birth of many designs that change our lives, society and values. These promising designs will surely be implemented in the society deeply and extensively in the future. The surge of the will to "interact" had a great impact on various fields, where people sought associations with values and technologies that are different from their own.
As design professionals creating products and services and disseminating them to the society, we face challenges constantly, many of which leave us feeling helpless and frustrated. The realm of issues that society and design need to address is expanding. They involve changes in lifestyles, diversification of values, the need for proper selection of information, the power of digitization, the importance of data collection and analysis, and the transparency of various processes. Are the systems and industries which support the society keeping up with the rapid changes in these realms? The black-boxed technologies and processes that we have continued to use ― are they hindering the evolution of our society?
Since the design professionals look at the society from different angles with the same lens called design, I believe that there still is room for advancements in mechanisms, products and activities. It can be achieved through interaction of creative "will," transcending differences in form, mass, materials, units, codes and programs. Through interactions and symphony among not only companies and organizations but also the "will" of individual creators, we can expect advancements with the power of design.
Good design continues to grow in number and importance. Looking at the entries, we the jury members will discuss the common features among them and ideas to be linked and disseminate them through initiatives such as the Focused Issues. The GOOD DESIGN AWARD is an opportunity to look at various designs from a macro perspective, letting us find clues to improve society and lifestyles not only in Japan but the world as a whole.
We are eagerly waiting to see a variety of designs loaded with interactions, which together will serve as a compass for the future.
