KOKUYO DESIGN AWARD 2020

I personally wanted to see more of how the designers had taken those elements further and developed on them. Still, the concept fitted the theme the most out of all the finalists, so I decided that it was worthy of the Grand Prix.

In the KOKUYO DESIGN AWARD, a Grand Prix winner should fit the theme, contain a leap of ideas, be feasible as a commercial product, and demonstrate high-quality design work—and it needs to meet these criteria at a high level. In the past, the norm has always been that entries that are outstanding in those respects get chosen for the Grand Prix, but if I’m honest, I didn’t see anything like that this year. This entry was the one that was most well-balanced. The context and background of the concept were the key points, rather than the novelty of the design itself. I chose it for the Grand Prix because I could see how pursuing the project would have the potential to get a lot of people and communities involved.

It captured the theme and responded to it well. This work sends a nostalgic message of sharing memories, but more than that, it also questions the process of a consumer society where things are produced and consumed in large quantities, and asks if that isn’t something that should change. And the high-quality feel and texture when you hold the pencil conveys that more than anything else. We’ve entered a digital age, which is precisely why it’s going to be the quality rather than quantity of things that shapes the future. The wood that had once been used as building material had a weight to it, and I was impressed by the idea that that weight could become “quality” and surpass the existing industrial system that is “mass production.” When they turn the design into a product, I want the designers and KOKUYO to develop it carefully so they don’t detract from that quality.

Actually, this entry didn’t grab me in the Initial Judging. It was an ordinary pencil, and I didn’t feel it had much story to it based on just the presentation sheet. However, when I held a model in the Final Judging, I was amazed by the overwhelming quality, and lots of different stories started popping into my head through that substantial feel. It didn’t take me long to feel convinced that this was the Grand Prix winner. Wood used in buildings and furniture serves out its role, then gets a new life as pencils. Just hearing that makes it sound like nothing more than a recycling product, but the idea was a design for a story about infinite possibilities carried inside a little pencil. If it’s developed and promoted as a project through workshops and things, it will become a social project that will get support from a lot of people. When I voted for it, I was imagining all the possibilities that the designers might go on to develop and offer society together with KOKUYO.

There were more works that appealed to people’s emotions than in past years, and among those, this entry made a particular impression. On its side, the pencil has a description of what kind of building the wood had originally been used in. People will definitely feel happy if they can preserve their memories in a form like this when their old elementary school closes, or they part with the house they grew up in when nobody lives there anymore. I also hope they can create a system that lets people share those feelings. The pencil’s texture is really good, so I want them to turn it into a commercial product while still preserving the rough, handmade feel.

I do want the designers to rethink the gold color of the final prototype, but there are other points where I think there’s even more potential for further development. For example, what if the cutter wasn’t designed to cut masking tape, but was big enough to cut duct tape? What sound would it make then? What melodies could it play? Would it make packing work more fun? I’d like them to develop their ideas further, without insisting on sticking with the current shape.

The moment I actually used this product in the Final Judging, it was more fun than I’d expected. Masking tape is often used for private purposes, and it’ll put you in a merry mood if something like this plays some sounds when you’re making something at home.

The idea and interpretation of the theme based on social issues and the entrant’s own love for children were both good points. I believe the entrant’s sense of mission and passion to make it into a product influenced the judging. There are many things to consider before it can be turned into a commercial product, such as its safety for use by children and how people should interact with it.

I was shocked to hear in the entrant’s presentation that a lot of children go missing in Japan. Although there will be many hurdles before people can actually start using it, I liked the story it had of this ordinary-looking, cute brooch that could help save children.

If making it means having to destroy the environment, then we can’t deny that the idea and reality don’t match. Maybe the designer should try going back to the interesting way the layers of paper fit together to keep themselves standing upright, and to the beauty of the design as a piece of craft, rather than insisting on making it a kind of stationery.

When we heard the presentation, the product made us really feel the destruction of forests, and we felt an urge not to use it. But with a surprising and bold theme like the “” we had this year, a product that we “wouldn’t want to use” was, conversely, something we felt was new and had potential.