KOKUYO DESIGN AWARD 2025

It was an amazing discovery that I experienced by touch. The design of this work was born from nerve stimulation, and if you are caught up in the visual sense, you will lose sight of the raw idea. Here the approach process is turned upside down. Its shape seems to have been born from the nerves, like that of a deep-sea fish, and although it's not a product I would normally choose, the stimulation it sends to my nerve cells when I hold it brings out the strength of my hand and my writing ability. It feels like being exposed to a rainstorm, and going back to a regular pen leaves me feeling unsatisfied. He must have done a lot of research on the motor brain, the sensory brain, and the nerves of the fingers. It reminds us of the nerves of our fingers to hold, touch, and feel things as the world becomes digitalized. It has the power of "prototype" to expand future possibilities. I am sure that a great deal of thought went into getting to this point, but there are still some unfinished margins that give a feeling of the future.

At first glance it appears to be a prototype product, but the moment I touched it I was captivated by its appeal. I felt the power of "prototype," a three-dimensional object. The purity of focusing on the nerves in the fingers and expanding the concept. It hurt at first, but soon became comfortable. It made me think while holding it. There is a feeling of being left in the margins in a good way. It was a very original idea and form that was unique to the theme of this year's competition, and because it was not completed, it made the judges' brain work even harder.

As you can imagine from the title of the work, "NEWRON," it was an approach to the distant future, and as a "prototype," it was a work that asked questions with new ideas. Among the finalists, we commended the proposals that stood out for their more futuristic feel.

At first glance, the judges were confused as to what it was. But that is exactly what "prototype" is, and that is why something new can arise. The approach of creating from the nerves changes the way shapes are created. It raises the question of whether there may be ways of designing that are different from previous ways of thinking. The recipient draws on his/her own inspiration. He evaluated the work as a true catalyst.

This work was selected as it truly embodies and challenges the theme of this year. The concept of creating things from nerves and stimulating nerves to support creative activities was perceived as a proposal for the future rather than something that would be accepted by many people right now. As the creator says, there are still many unfinished parts, and there is still room for further verification and exploration, which makes it a true "prototype." It makes you feel like this might be what manufacturing will be like in the future.

At first, I did not get it at all, but as the discussion went on, I began to see the creator's intention. It is like a dog's tail, which is very cute and even indispensable, although the tail, which had run its nerves in the wild, becomes almost useless the moment it becomes a pet. In a world overflowing with things, where rationality is pursued and waste is eliminated, if the pros and cons of a design like this tail were questioned, it was an inspiring proposal that I would like to see become a reality.

The creator has a sense of creating art rather than design. He focused his points on sensations, human gestures, and what people do without thinking. The creator said that realistically it would be difficult to sell the work as part of a paperback edition, and that he is not considering commercializing it. That's why it gives me something to think about. However, as a person who makes his living in design, I feel that there are some aspects that cannot be reached by feeling and questioning alone, and therein lies my dilemma. It can be said that this is an award-winning work that is unique to the KOKUYO DESIGN AWARD.

The work is a simple expression of the creator's everyday thoughts, perhaps not as product development, but as a careful observation of ordinary scenes in daily life and incorporation into design. The evaluation of this work changed as the judging criteria were developed in depth through discussions on how the theme was approached.

This was a work that was difficult to discuss. There is a strong impression that design is about setting a challenge and solving it in a better way, but if you are constantly surrounded by designs created for a single purpose, you will become constricted. This is a suggestion for incorporating the casual act of "spinning" into your life, with the goal being the sensation, without any restrictions on what meaning may emerge from it. The difficulty and mindset of designing for a single purpose or meaning and designing to create multiple meanings are overwhelmingly different, and I thought it was wonderful that he took on this challenge. People who come into contact with this work will have fun interpreting it in different ways and building relationships with it. It is an object that elicits engagement and has a strong power as a catalyst for new forms of design. It symbolized this year's theme.

"Spinning" is not a standalone product, but is proposed as a set with a stack of books or papers. It is an idea that would be difficult to commercialize, but the creator was aware of this and proposed it as something a little freer. This work shows the depth of the "prototype," and although the creator was unsure whether it was appropriate to submit it, he said he hoped it would become the basis for more proposals like this. I was also impressed by those words.

A work that designs communication. What does someone set for someone else? For kids, birthdays... We leave a little bit of space and thought for someone else. I honestly felt that I liked the suggestion of what design can do to help families communicate in an urban environment where people come and go in large numbers.

The action of enclosing the information in Japanese quotation marks transforms mere information into "human words." I felt that emotions, pauses, and even unspoken thoughts were reflected there. Like any design, it reflects the personality and background of its creator. The work overlapped with the creator's simple atmosphere, who does not say much in his presentations, and in that sense, the work came in easily.

We appreciated the idea of creating a new added value that appeals more emotionally by only slightly changing the shape, even though it is really a simple shape. However, I feel that the design could be improved if more careful consideration were given to the relationship between the letters and the space, as well as the size, shape, thickness, and texture of the material.

The idea of using Japanese quotation marks is clear and strong. In an age where text is becoming digitalized, adding magnetic Japanese quotation marks suddenly gives it an analogue feel. On the other hand, I felt there was still room to explore the subtleties of using Japanese quotation marks. It may be possible to reshape the cross section or change the length slightly. I also wished I could have seen a little more about the difference in the expression of such detailed shapes.

The presentation that conveyed why these Japanese quotation marks are important and what kind of experiences and emotions can be brought up by including what kind of things in them made a good impression, and the gap between the presentation and the preliminary materials was the largest among the finalists. The work is designed to stay close to the human experience. I think it's a fantastic output.

"Secret" was a Grand Prix candidate that competed until the very end. It was completed to a high degree of perfection, and was examined on various levels from emotional design to the theme of "prototype," and proposed a diary tailored to this era. There is no doubt about their high quality as designers. I was impressed by the way the diary should not disappear in the future, how it can be designed as one human dignity, and how it is designed intellectually and poetically at a deep logical depth.

It was a presentation that conveyed the concept directly, rather than logically. I was impressed by their desire to connect with people through this work. Giving shape to thoughts, communicating them through prototypes, and gaining empathy. The flow of the work was natural and pleasant to watch.

They take products like diaries, which are thought to be designs that will never be able to produce anything new, and carefully update them through their own experience. A true "prototype" that has undergone repeated testing. Although it doesn't have much impact, the work suggests that there is still room for further design potential in notebooks.

When I read the description, I got the impression that "maybe there is a subtle point of view like this," but when I actually held the prototype in my hands, I felt like I could understand the concept immediately with my body, and I was very surprised. It's a work that lets you know that there are big things happening even though it's not a big story, and I felt that the design was delicately crafted. The design skills were fully demonstrated.

This was a close second to the Grand Prix winner, and the evaluation was divided until the very end. In a sense, diaries are mature products, and a market that is close to users has been established. However, it is still possible to create design works that empathize with the experiences and feelings of the diary writer. The work was outstanding in terms of designing human emotions and experiences. The work was detailed and verified, and was almost a finished product.