KOKUYO DESIGN AWARD 2026

A proposal that’s as pure and minimal as a “pebble.” But all the same, it made a strong impact when I picked it up, and had a power that resonated with me directly. What’s more, leaving room for the users to think about how to use it in their own ways is also a wonderful point, and it’s a well-thought-out design with a solid core, also including the balance between mass-producibility and personalization. The creator’s storytelling ability and personality really came across in the presentation, and I think that also influenced the impression the work left.

With everyone looking to release finished products into the world nowadays, it was wonderful how the creator of this entry found value in the pre-production process, and transformed it into an act of creation that would form a connection with society. The object itself has a massive impact, and conjures up an image that feels related to the theme—an image of various possibilities getting personalized and spreading out from a pure, raw gemstone. It also prompted me to re-examine “writing” as a primal act like drawing on stone.

I felt that it’d be easy for lots of people to picture situations where they’d use the fact that you can make a portable notebook by taking just as much of it as you need. It’s a proposal that leaves people room to use their own imagination in thinking up ways to use it—and not just creators, but people from a wide variety of professions and generations. Given that this year’s theme of “HAMON” means spreading out like ripples, it stands to reason that this entry was unanimously chosen to be the Grand Prix winner.

This proposal had grabbed me right from the first round of judging, and I really related to it on a personal level. Even when I was carrying around a whole bundle of paper, when I used it, there’d also be times when I’d want to engage with it as a single sheet. Also, the “right amount” of something will vary from person to person, so it’s a difficult problem, and not just for notebooks. The delicate sensibility to question that aspect, the freedom and possibilities that having multiple sheets of paper brings…factors like these, and the resulting proposal that takes notebooks back to being a “material,” and the design itself, all contained a story that resonated with a sense of personal involvement from various perspectives.

The presentation in the final judging was excellent. It may have started as a very personal and small realization, but I thought it was a proposal that could resonate with latent “wants” that lots of different people have, myself included. We are now in an age where people will increasingly think about things for themselves, and also design how to use things for themselves. The concept of rethinking how notebooks are used and their value, and entrusting that to the users, also aligned perfectly with this year’s theme of “HAMON.”

Metal is a material I work with regularly, and I’ve learned from experience how much our impression of objects can vary even with just slight differences in weight, so this entry caught my attention right from the first round of judging. From the logo and concept to the story, I consistently felt that the communication was the work of a professional. It was a simple and powerful idea, and if there’d been one further step of deep exploration to make you focus on the subtle differences in weight, it might’ve won the Grand Prix.

Adopting a perspective that set it apart from all the other pen proposals I’d seen to date, this entry took sensations that many people have likely been experiencing unconsciously, and translated them into design. I thought it was outstanding for that.

This entry garnered praise from the judges for how highly complete its prototype was. Its concept was also clear, it expressed a personal “wouldn’t it be nice to have?” perspective, and it was easy to picture various people relating to it and using it, so it fit this year’s theme nicely, too. On the other hand, from the point of view of future product development and expansion, it would probably have been better to clarify the weight differences that would suit the target audience. I also hope the creator continues to pursue the balance between the center of gravity and the writing feel.

Just like how we engage with food will depend on whether we use heavy, substantial cutlery or a plastic spoon from a convenience store, I think the weight of a writing implement also has a significant impact on the act of writing. As a product, a pen is composed of various elements such as its shape, the materials it’s made from, and how easy it is to hold, but focusing on the subjective element of the weight when it’s held is an important insight that appeals to the user’s feelings.

As products, pens are categorized by things like line thickness and darkness and ink properties, and they come in many varieties. However, this entry showed the drive to create a new category based on weight. On seeing the prototype in the final judging, I was also impressed by how beautifully finished it was. The presentation clearly introduced the creator and the background to the idea, and it’s an entry that’s invested with a desire to spread a new writing experience to people all around the world.

This entry was a simple proposal of having colored edges on white notebooks, but getting to see the genuine personality of a creator who notices little things made me feel happy somehow. Commercialization will pose some challenges, but I commend the entry for having the courage to unwaveringly pursue details. I thought I’d like to have some of these in my own studio, too, so I think the idea has the potential to spread in ways we’ve never seen before.

While many designs consist of adding ideas to something that already exists, this one focuses on a key point by stripping things down to the bare minimum—namely, simply adding a minimal amount of color to a notebook. The design concept itself is very small, but I felt it has the potential to connect with this year’s theme as well, in the sense of potentially altering the landscape of a large space. While the paper texture and the attention to detail are beautiful aspects, the dirt and wear that daily use will entail are likely to be future challenges.

I appreciated the idea of viewing stationery as an element that surrounds our living spaces and focusing on how it can harmonize with them. I really liked the idea of having notebooks with blank space for people to use their imagination and get creative in. On the other hand, when it comes to picturing people using these notebooks, the white spaces inevitably get dirty. The paper’s matte texture is also an appealing point, but it might’ve been better to eliminate as many potentially negative elements as possible.

While books are often regarded as part of an interior design, I suspect viewing notebooks as elements of a space might be a perspective no one had noticed before. The design was imbued with that new idea—with an objectivity that could make you think, “Oh, yes, that’s right.” Consequently, the entry really resonated with the judges.

The presentation in the final judging was impressive. Proposing that stationery should also blend seamlessly into interior design just like furniture and home appliances do is a fresh perspective that really captures the spirit of the times. On top of that, it proved that you can strip things down as much as this even with products where the details are crucial, as they are with notebooks.

Personally, I sometimes find myself being chased by daily deadlines, too, but often draw lots of grids and lines in my planner to clearly separate the days and months. In contrast to that, the creators’ proposal consists of vibrant, progressive “transitions.” The approach seemed to evoke a sense of breathing and sighing. That was something I’d never seen in a calendar before, and I found it very interesting.

A ripple is a phenomenon that spreads from the inside out, creating a gentle boundary as it goes, until at last, the distinction between the inside and outside disappears. This entry has taken that kind of impression and turned it into a product. Questioning the commonplace notion of ruled lines, the proposal looked at the concept of time, and how it’s somehow gotten divided up based on decisions by nobody knows who. Then, it erased the boundaries through an incredibly simple method that evokes the way humans originally perceived time—namely, light and shadow.

I think this entry was recognized as having potential because it involved ideas and solutions that were developed in line with this year’s theme. On the other hand, turning it into something that can truly be used in everyday life will require not just theoretical simulations, but also a process of refinement that includes getting hands-on experience of actually using it.

This year, I got the impression that there were lots of notebook proposals, and in particular, ideas about how to draw ruled lines in ways that are different from how it’s usually done. That’s a good insight, but deciding what kind of form to pursue as an alternative is surprisingly difficult. This entry focused on the space between the boundaries of a day and the things done during it, and the concept and the planner’s form were directly linked. Maybe this made it easy to understand.

A youthful proposal from some students, this entry conveyed the very human message that even once we’re adults, we still don’t want to be bound by ruled lines. That really struck a chord with me. I think it’s well designed, but it’d be even better if they went further by also delving into who it might be used by, and what kinds of situations. I think it’s a work that still has a lot of potential for growth.