NEW GENERATION AWARD
The New Generation Award was established to encourage the young generation who will lead the next age to challenge themselves. Works submitted by students to the KOKUYO DESIGN AWARD 2024 are judged based not on whether they can be commercialized, but on whether they have appealing ideas and viewpoints.
New Generation Award
- title
- Candle Clock
- creator
- Sakan Kiatboonsri
Description
Candles once considered a primitive light source, played functional and symbolic roles in history, including religious ceremonies and timekeeping tools through wax markings. In today's fast-paced world, stress is prevalent due to rapid lifestyle changes. Lighting candles has become a popular method to relax and relieve stress, as their pleasant scent evokes a refresher and creates an experience reminiscent of the past. This candle holder design prioritizes leisure, blending primitive with modern refinement. Its distinctive feature is mobility, allowing it to reveal burn time through gravity. The unlit candle starts low, rising as it burns. A marker near the base's pivot point approximates elapsed time, emphasizing the freedom of relaxation from rigid schedules.
Evaluation Comments
I felt that it is a unique work that skillfully combines the fundamental effects of the wax slowly changing and the flame swaying with the reciprocal practical function as a clock. It can change the way we perceive the passage of time, and we can imagine a psychological cleansing effect. I chose this because I want to use it myself whenever I want to switch on and off.
- title
- Fifty-Six Kilometers
- creator
- Joonyeol Bae
Description
A pencil's beauty lies in its gradual shortening with use, symbolizing the outcome of one's journey. The Fifty-six Kilometers Pencil Holder, inspired by the fact that a pencil is known to contain 56 kilometers' worth of graphite, redefines its essence by going beyond its usual role. It visually represents the effort you put in and encourages rediscovering the joy of using pencils. This holder not only shows how far your journey has gone but also motivates you to keep going into the future with a pencil in hand.
Evaluation Comments
I felt that it has a very tasteful point of view that expresses what we know about the pencil, a familiar object, in a new way. I think the proposal could be improved if the design was more thorough. For example, how will the fact that it uses 56 kilograms of graphite affect people who use it?
- title
- Fingers-go-wild
- creator
- Ma Kwan Lam
Description
I've always felt that the drawings created by children are the most pure, raw, and straightforward. They don't worry about pleasing others; their creative process is purely the original intention of a human.
Writing may seem effortless to humans, but do you recall the challenges you faced when you first attempted it? Imagine if a pen could recreate that initial experience. I hope this pen will encourage users to rethink the everyday objects they often take for granted. A pencil is more than just a writing tool; it holds the essence of communication, enabling us to express our ideas.
Evaluation Comments
I rarely get to use crayons as an adult. This made me excited to use crayons again. It made me want to use it! I feel that this work is stimulated by the imagination of the person using it. Depending on who uses it, it can create many different things, like an octopus, a squid, an alien.
- title
- Once upon a time
- creator
- Tamaki Higo, Akiho Takehara
Description
“Once upon a time” is a notebook that lets you feel that you are using something that can be reborn into something. We are writing letters on bleached recycled paper. I am writing on recycled paper that is bad for the environment that is covered with environmentally friendly paper masks. I think it would be nice if recycled paper had its history and memories instead of it being a clean slate. If you can see a little bit of what a paper used to look like, you will be more acutely aware that the paper was recycled.
Evaluation Comments
There is an initiative in which we collect Tsunage Loopa notebooks—made by KAUNET—that are thrown away by elementary school children and recycle them to make KOKUYO notebooks. I felt that this effort showed that there are tall hurdles to commercialization in terms of protecting personal information, but I chose this because there is a wide range of future developments. For example, it can be used as a gift to celebrate graduating from elementary school.
- title
- SHIORI Bookstand
- creator
- ZHUYANSHUO
Description
Sometimes, we put aside a book that we haven’t finished reading and forget about it. The inspiration for this design came from the bookmark strings that come attached to books. We extended the bookmark string to turn it into a book stand. By placing a book on a special book stand, each book is like a sculpture, telling that it has not yet been read. The bookstand also has the characteristics of a bookmark and intuitively displays how far you have read. This design is not just about books, it is a rethinking of the role of the book stand that associates it with the act of reading.
Evaluation Comments
The bookmark is a product that lets you to visualize the readers' feelings and knowledge by giving shape to the moment of reading. Sharing this bookmark with others will encourage empathy and co-creation, bringing reading to a new dimension. I chose this because it expands people’s creativity, and it makes me anticipate an exciting future.
- title
- ITZULI
- creator
- meem (Cristina Echeveste, Nicolas Marquez）
Description
In the age of hyperconnectivity, paradoxically, many feel increasingly isolated. What if our smartphones became rocks for a while? Inspired by the ancient tools, we create a liberating analogical prison, offering a break from digital burden.
Itzuli,as we say in Basque Country to "come back" describe that feeling of returning to our real world.
Disconnect tor econnect
Evaluation Comments
Smartphones today are an indispensable tool in our lives and they are a burden. The idea of a tool that keeps us away from smartphones is a concept that any person today can sympathize with. I was very disappointed that there was no particular explanation for the proposed object. (Such as the mechanics or form)
- title
- Bloom
- creator
- Zhou Wenbiao
Description
Why are watercolor paints just boring blocks? Let's create watercolor paints in the shape of flowers and let children paint to their heart's content!
Evaluation Comments
This work turns paint itself into an art, whereas paint is usually a tool used to create art. I feel that it is not just a drawing tool, but a way to enjoy drawing more. I chose this work because I expect that painters will come up with ideas that are not possible with existing types of paint, such as changing and decorating flowers and giving gifts to loved ones.
- title
- one square kanji workbook
- creator
- Shunsuke Kubota
Description
This is a kanji notebook that encourages free and spontaneous learning by having only one square that is full and leaving the others blank. As all kinds of have become electronic in recent years, we no longer write kanji, we choose them. You can quickly type kanji that you can't write and easily use words that you don't know.
Because of this, we need to be more interested in and deepen our understanding of our letters and words than ever before.
Evaluation Comments
Although it is possible to learn characters through repetition, I feel that this work lets you learn in a way that is a step above simple memorization. I chose this work because I think it is wonderful and can make people excited. It has many learning angles and makes you want to learn the origin of a kanji or the kanji in a friend’s name, or look for similar kanji.
- title
- Blossom
- creator
- A STUDIO (Chen Yang, Jiang Fang, Lyu Muzhi)
Description
The process by which a flower creates beautiful colors is essentially staining, the reproduction of the life of the cell. Drop the aroma oil onto a piece of paper folded into the shape of a flower petal, and the middle of the paper gradually fills with color. The folds of the paper and speed of the dye create unique colors and patterns each time, making it blossom like a natural flower.
Evaluation Comments
The expression of the flowers change every time just like in real life when the aroma oil is applied, showing us a variety of forms and expressing how good it is to have individuality and differences. It looks beautiful, and the scent is calming. I think that just using it casually can make your life more colorful, and that’s why I chose this.
- title
- Incense Calendar
- creator
- RonCha (Karin Tomonaga, Rio Takahashi)
Description
Today’s society is swirling with information and full of convenient things. When we try to take a break, we unconsciously open our smartphones to get information. Can that really be considered resting? This incense lasts three minutes. I made this product with the desire to make people close their eyes and relax for just three minutes once a day. There are various customized aromas, enough to have a different aroma each day for a month.
Evaluation Comments
This work lets you enjoy scents and calm yourself in the middle of your busy day, even if it is for just a moment. It might also let you find a scent you like. Modern society puts an emphasis on time performance. However, more people are emphasizing putting aside time for oneself, and I think this product is perfect for the modern age. I expect it to be used into other areas, such as advent calendars.
