"KOKUYO DESIGN AWARD 2025" will begin accepting entries on July 26

KOKUYO Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Osaka/President: Hidekuni Kuroda) announces the "KOKUYO DESIGN AWARD 2025," an international product design competition aimed at supporting and co-creating with talented designers. Entries will be accepted from July 26.

The KOKUYO DESIGN AWARD is one of the most renowned and historic product design competitions in Japan. It was established by KOKUYO back in 2002, and this year's competition marks its 22nd outing. Besides setting themes that mirror the times and then selecting the most outstanding product designs among all those entered in response every year, we have also been productizing the winning designs through co-creation between the award winners themselves and KOKUYO's product developers. So far, over 20 product designs have been productized. By taking designs that breathe new life into tools that are a familiar part of our lives at home and at work, and offering them to the world as soundly developed products, we aim to give their designers a boost for their future activities, and at the same time, achieve our purpose, "Bringing you a tomorrow you can't wait for."

The KOKUYO DESIGN AWARD 2025 will accept entries with the theme of "prototype." In product design, the word "prototype" is generally used to mean a pre-finished product or a sample before completion, but for this project, we saw it as "an original idea that has the potential to lead to the next step." A well-thought-out prototype will inspire others and serve as a catalyst for the future. The KOKUYO DESIGN AWARD 2025 is looking for product designs that will be the starting point for the future.

In addition, the "NEW GENERATION Award" will be given just as last year. The NEW GENERATION Award encourages unique ideas and challenges that are not bound by existing concepts, and is open only to student applicants with the expectation of future success. Associating with KOKUYO's purpose, "Bringing you a tomorrow you can't wait for," we will select up to 10 outstanding entries with appealing ideas and viewpoints as proposals that make us "feel that their futures will be exciting." We hope this will encourage the young generation who will lead the next age to challenge themselves.

（1）Theme:prototype

"Groundbreaking design often begins with a prototype.
Prototyping is to design an original idea into a form that has the potential to lead to the next step.
The KOKUYO DESIGN AWARD 2025 seeks designs pointing the way to the future and serving as a catalyst.
Your design will inspire others and become a vector for the future.
We look forward to seeing your "prototype" not bound by existing thinking or limited to mockups or ideas."

（2） Eligible Entries: Any stationery, furniture or tool used in working, learning and living scenes
（3）Registration & Submission: July 26 (Fri) - October 9 (Wed), 2024
（4）Judges:

Shogo Kishino (Representative of 6D-K / Art Director and Graphic Designer)
Tsuyoshi Tane (Founder of Atelier Tsuyoshi Tane Architects / Architect)
Nao Tamura (Designer)
Teruhiro Yanagihara (TERUHIRO YANAGIHARA STUDIO. CO LTD. / Creative Director and Designer)
Satoshi Yoshiizumi (Founder of TAKT PROJECT Inc. / Designer)
Hidekuni Kuroda (Representative Corporate Officer and President of KOKUYO Co., Ltd.)

（5）Prizes:

Grand Prix (one winner) ¥2,000,000 (about $12,800)
Merit Award (three winners) ¥500,000 (about $3,200) per winner
NEW GENERATION Award (max ten winners) \30,000 (about $200) per winner

*Prize money will be paid net of withholding tax, surtax for reconstruction funding, and other applicable deductions.
*The prize money will be paid in Japanese yen.
*Not all Prizes may be awarded for all categories if there is no winner selected.

（6）Judging Points:

The idea's clarity
The idea highlights social issues
The design's potential to become a product

（7）Announcement of the Winners : March 22 (Sat), 2025 (tentative)
（8）KOKUYO DESIGN AWARD 2025 information session for applicants

An online information session will be held on Wednesday, July 31 at 7:00 p.m. with last year's Grand Prix winners as guests. Only available in Japanese.

In addition, a video of the information session will be available (in Japanese and English) on the official YouTube channel from mid-August 2024.

For more information, please visit the KOKUYO DESIGN AWARD website.

Announcements regarding the KOKUYO DESIGN AWARD 2025 will be available on the KOKUYO DESIGN AWARD website.
https://www.kokuyo.com/en/award/

* Detailed application guidelines will be posted on Friday, July 26, 2024

Information regarding the application will also be posted on the following social media and video sharing website.
Facebook (Japanese/English): https://www.facebook.com/KokuyoDesignAward.japan/
Instagram (Japanese/English): https://www.instagram.com/kokuyo_designaward/
X (Japanese): https://x.com/kokuyo_DA
LINE (Japanese) account name: @kokuyo_da
YouTube (Japanese/English):
https://www.youtube.com/c/KOKUYODESIGNAWARD
Contact for inquiries about entering:
https://www.kokuyo.com/en/award/contact/