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 2025 are judged based not on whether they can be commercialized, but on whether they have appealing ideas and viewpoints.
New Generation Award
- title
- The Way the Wind Turns
- creator
- Haruki Ichijo
Description
A small methodology made of paper that captures the wind. A slightly new style of the windmill.
Evaluation Comments
I felt that a work which attempts to visualize the phenomenon of invisible wind seemed to most honestly capture "prototype," which is the theme of this DESIGN AWARD. Although it is still in the middle stages, I felt that the prototype that I was thinking of while working was one that has the potential to create an unexpected presence.
- title
- Juicy Fruits
- creator
- Chen Cheng, Wang Chao
Description
When we see some fruits, we always look forward to the sweet and delicious flesh under their skin. When this pigment is squeezed out of your hand, the juicy fruit and bright colors seem to be intertwined at this moment. It subverts the one-to-one correspondence between the pigment packaging and the color itself. Using our experience with fruits, it amplifies the expectation of color and brings people a pleasant psychological feeling when using it.
Evaluation Comments
Like passion fruit, the difference between the vivid outside and bright inside also makes fruit attractive. This work also has a difference between the outside and inside colors, and it makes you excited even before you open the cap. It is fun like a real fruit, and I thought it was a wonderful idea that makes you want to actually pick it up.
- title
- Time-Zone Love
- creator
- Jiang Xiaowen, Zhou Yitong
Description
Time-Zone Love is a watch specifically designed for couples in different time zones.When your lover is far across the ocean, your attention may not only be in the here and now, but also in the there and then. That's why we have designed this watch with a dial adjusted for time differences. The hour hand points to the numbers representing your partner's time, requiring you to adapt your habits to the traditional dial for your own time. Different time zones coexist on the same watch hand, allowing lovers from different time zones to share the same moment in their longing.
Evaluation Comments
The idea of displaying the time of someone who is far away on a watch is common, but this work was appreciated for the design and ingenuity of the dial. A unique charm is born by visualizing the time of someone else and yourself in one dial, and by making the design different from that of a regular dial. I felt that the unique idea and high level of design were wonderful.
- title
- Art Material for Wiping
- creator
- Taishin Hirai, Kansei Nagashima
Description
This "Art Material for Wiping" is a brush with a sponge tip that enables you to wipe and clean a fogged-up window while drawing on it. On a cold winter day, have you ever gently drawn a picture on a window fogged up by condensation with your fingertips? However, your fingers get cold and wet, and fingerprints are left on the windowpane. I came up with this brush to solve such problems and to enjoy more beautiful expressions. The fogged-up window will turn into a canvas, and will be cleaned every time the brush tip draws on it. I want to make condensation more enjoyable and more freely expressive.
Evaluation Comments
A picture was drawn on the base of the window glass which was clouded by condensation. Turning something negative into something happy was a wonderful way of thinking. It is a work with "beauty of use" that can be cleaned by using multiple brushes separately and wiping it with a blackboard eraser at the end. I think it is also important to enrich daily life when making things. It seems like a work that will make the people who draw with it, and the people who look at it cheerful.
- title
- Distinguishable umbrella stand
- creator
- Shunsuke Hino
Description
When you put a common plastic umbrella in a public umbrella stand, you sometimes have trouble finding your own umbrella. This is a "distinguishable" umbrella stand that lets you know where you put your umbrella by using a color scheme that is easy to remember. The distinct colors help to prevent lost and stolen items, and also provide an element of fun for children to learn how to organize things. The goal is to make each umbrella used for as long as possible in Japan, which is the world's largest consumer of plastic umbrellas. Hopefully, this work will be a trigger for designers to create multifaceted effects in the simple acts of "color scheming and visualizing."
Evaluation Comments
By making the small change of adding color to each compartment of an umbrella stand, I felt that it was an excellent way to not only prevent forgotten items and theft, but also to make it fun for children to clean up. It is not only functional, but also has an emotional charm that makes you feel positive when you see the colorful umbrella stand on a rainy day. I thought it was a great idea that combined practicality and design.
- title
- STRATA
- creator
- Maki Iwaya
Description
A pencil sharpener that proposes a new approach to the concept of garbage = something to be thrown away. The accumulation of pencil shavings creates a stratum that is unique to that person. The act of shaving a pencil in order to write may become a luxurious act of writing in order to shave a pencil. Now that digitalization has progressed and writing has decreased, I propose to think about what will happen if a new trend of "writing" is created. This slim pencil sharpener has interchangeable sharpening and storing parts, and you can choose your favorite size, such as A4 or B5.
Evaluation Comments
It was very nice that what I wrote accumulated as a "stratum" and became a visible form. It is a design that embodies "If dust accumulates, it becomes a mountain," and if you look at it while studying, it seems like it can become positive proof that you have worked hard. Since digital devices are mainstream now, I felt that this was a design that was worth proposing.
- title
- prot note
- creator
- Yura Kurita, Kanai Tanaka, Emiri Noma, Naho Kawaguchi
Description
A notebook with dots aligned every 5 mm in the center, and dots randomly placed around them. In the center, you can take notes neatly, and in the surrounding spaces where the dots are not aligned, you can freely write with trial and error without being conscious of writing nicely. Some of the trial and error involves things that are not correct, but those are not mistakes, but a "prototype" to reach the correct answer. This is a notebook that makes it easy to record that prototype.
Evaluation Comments
I thought it was a wonderful work that expresses the gradation of thought, with free dots placed around it while having regularity in the center. I was excited about a design that did not disturb my thoughts, and I felt a new form of communication when reading back records and sharing them with others.
- title
- Light Planner
- creator
- Gao Rong,Xie Min, Liu Yushuang
Description
The Light Planner is an innovative scheduling tool that combines light clock hands and translucent sticky notes. Sticky notes are attached to the clock frame, and a light clock hand penetrates the frame to point to the current task. The schedule can be adjusted flexibly and easily by simply taking off the sticky note and sticking on a new one. This design reinterprets the time display function of a clock and proposes a new form of time management that combines "time indication" and "task reminders." It also focuses on a typical product in KOKUYO, the sticky note, and shows the possibilities of future design as a prototype designed for a new way of using it.
Evaluation Comments
The combination of transparent sticky notes and light clock was fresh. You might think that task management is done in a hurry when you are busy, but if you realize it, you can write tasks carefully on sticky notes and finish the day with a sense of relaxation. That could be expected to bring a quiet sense of accomplishment and a healing effect, and I felt the potential to evolve daily schedule management.
- title
- icy drops
- creator
- Touko Yamada
Description
Have you ever taken the time to watch ice melt? In this work, this phenomenon is expressed by using water glue. The body is made of a slightly soft material, and by pressing it, the water glue inside can be released, which enables the user to experience how ice melts and turns into water while being used. With a focus on the appearance of a clear texture, this work was designed to be easily recognizable as ice by anyone at a glance. It may be gone as "ice," but it will continue to exist as "water." I hope you will experience its beauty.
Evaluation Comments
I was thrilled by simple beauty. I thought the idea of using liquid glue to express the melting ice, rather than focusing on its functionality, was artistic and interesting. I felt that we will be reminded of the message about global warming every time we use it, and I felt that it would be more evident in the series.
- title
- po-po-cutter
- creator
- Waka Shigeyama
Description
This work focuses on the sound of a cutter, which is a bit scary among the stationery tools that produce sharp blades, to make it somehow easier to relate to. The proposal for the po-po-cutter was born from some casual ideas.
Evaluation Comments
While I was reminded of the difficulty of breaking down preconceptions, I also realized that there are new ideas in the simple tools that I am familiar with. I was excited about the possibility of breaking down preconceptions, even in work and life. I also felt the potential to expand, such as by creating a scale by customizing a blade stopper and applying it to the dial type.
