JUDGES

The theme of “prototype” gives me something close to that sizzling feeling that arouses a creator’s desire to create. It’s a theme that has a variety of aspects to it, and that means there’s no clear ideal image. So, it’ll also be impossible as a judge to predict what kinds of works will feature in this iteration of the KOKUYO DESIGN AWARD.
Consequently, how the creators each personally interpret the theme and what concepts they come up with are going to be all the more important. A “prototype” is the first step of an idea, and something that points a vector into the future. However, what we want isn’t prototypes or unfinished pieces. I’ll be delighted if the works express things like the paths of trial and error the creators took while constantly working on their entries as they got closer and closer to their finished forms.

“Prototype” means the primitive forms all things once had.
Take a sheet of paper, for example. If you write on it, it might turn into a letter, or—if you write a story on it—a novel. Stack multiple pieces of paper on top of each other and bind them together, and you’ll have the “prototype” for a notebook. Please unravel the origins of things in the world around us whose existence is taken for granted, and rethink why they came to have the forms they do. Overturning preconceived notions should reveal to you new “prototypes” that lie beyond.
What kinds of “prototypes” will be needed in the 21st century, as the waves of globalization and diversity spread ever wider? We want you to show us the primitive forms of things like that—things that’ll shape the future of creation. The theme of this year’s KOKUYO DESIGN AWARD also contains sentiments like that.

Taken on its own, the word “prototype” tends to conjure up images of things in an unfinished form. However, I think this year’s KOKUYO DESIGN AWARD will be a forum for examining how complete your designs get in pursuit of self-expression, and the processes involved in that.
For designers, the first step, where they shape ideas and images in their heads, is the best part. “What’s it going to be for, and who?” Focusing on the process that leads to creating something—including the thoughts of your own that you want to convey through design—should enable you to create new ideas that are even more original.
I’m looking forward to encountering works that honestly express the fun of design, cherishing the personal perspective of “I wish there was something like this.”

I think the important thing with this theme isn't creating prototypes, but how you manage to address their raison d'être.
Improving existing products little by little with the aim making something even better is extremely important when it comes to making things. Prototypes are always a part of that process. No matter how far you go with a design, it'll never be 100% finished, and there'll always something that can be improved even after you've let go of it yourself.
While imagining a future in which your works will be brushed up by various other people, how will you create indicators that'll serve as the basis for making that happen?
I'm looking forward to seeing proposals for "prototypes" that harbor new possibilities that'll set our hearts fluttering.

What kinds of ripples will the designs the entrants come up with spread through society? A major difference from the themes the KOKUYO DESIGN AWARD has had over the past few years is that this time, the focus isn’t on proposing things that “give” people something they’ll desire, but on what kinds of landscapes will spread away beyond that? In other words, we’re calling for proposals that’ll “draw out” the recipients’ imaginativeness. In that sense, what we’re looking for this time around is “new prototypes” that will, so to speak, cast stones into the ponds of people’s minds. While it’s important for designs to be easy to understand, with the theme of “prototype,” it’ll also be important for them to include some unknown aspects that can be the starting points for people’s imagination.
I’m hoping to encounter works that don’t just illicit a simple endorsement of “I like that,” but also have a mysterious gravitational attraction that makes me go “Oh?” and want to stop and ponder on them. I’m looking forward to seeing proposals that’ll baffle us in a good way.