The Shape of Post-Corona Design as an Instrument Containing an Expression of Sympathy for Each Other

Founded in 1957, the Good Design Award has a history stretching back more than half a century. The role of the award is to evaluate the numerous designs developed and presented in a variety of fields every year and endorse their potential and the spread of such activities. However, with the domains encompassed by the term “design” expanding tremendously, its meaning and significance are also undergoing a major transformation. One sign of this is the addition to the entry categories of two new units that are not limited to physical, shaped objects, namely “System, Service and Business Model” and “Project, Activity and Method.” The 84 Judges got together again this year for a three-day Good Design Award Screening Panel. What are the hallmarks of design in 2020, as seen from the consensus that emerged at the conclusion of the heated debate among the judges, in which their diverse personal thoughts and philosophies of design went head to head with each other? We talked to Judging Committee Chair Takashi Ashitomi and Vice Chair Seiichi Saito.

How is the new normal viewed from the perspective of design?

In previous years, the Good Design Award Screening Panel has been held in Tokyo, but the venue for 2020 was switched to Aichi Prefecture, because the Tokyo Olympics were due to be taking place. Then the COVID-19 outbreak came along, which meant that the hearing screening had to be held online. As such, everything About this year’s process was unusual. The Judging Committee’s leaders talked About these changes.

Ashitomi The COVID-19 pandemic had a huge impact. Some people did, in fact, say that they had experienced communication difficulties during the selection process and it’s not clear whether this extraordinary situation will be resolved before the end of the year.

The Good Design Award’s screening methods themselves probably need to be updated as times change. However, as much as face-to-face communication was lacking, I felt that people had a stronger desire to communicate their ideas to one another this year than in previous years and that actually enriched the screening process, I feel.

Saito In an award program so closely tied to consumers, like the Good Design Award, there are aspects that are hard to judge without actually seeing the item in question, so I realized anew that in future, we will need to hold screening panel sessions in which we actually get together in person to discuss our views.

Environmental problems were a major topic in last year’s awards, but this year’s entries have taken it a step further, with many focused on trying to create systems for recycling and the circular economy (economic activities that seek to eliminate the waste of various resources and to generate a profit from them). As the new normal becomes established, the question of how to view evaluation guidelines and guiding principles for our lifestyles from the perspective of design will likely become important.

In the expanding domain of design, how should products be compared in a way that helps to represent society as a whole?

Every year, a different theme is set for judging the Good Design Award. This year’s theme was the expression of sympathy for each other. The sub-theme was design as an instrument.

The former evokes the importance of communication, while the latter is familiar, yet the breadth of its definition implies something mysterious. As a common theme running right through all the award winning objects, these words also resonate strongly in the Focused Issues element, which seeks to identify issues and possibilities related to the society of the future and offer recommendations for important areas that designs should address right now. What led to the decision to adopt these two themes?

Ashitomi We set the expression of sympathy for each other as one of this year’s themes because, given the previous two years’ themes (The “power to resonate” in 2019 and “beauty” in 2018), we thought that expressing our emotions and feelings to each other was important.

The second theme—design as an instrument—is an answer to the question of how to compare different types of product at a time when the domain of design continues to expand. For example, it’s hard to compare architecture and stationery in the same category, but if we use the term “instrument,” we can think of both as a “methodology for doing something.” So those were the concepts that resulted in the adoption of the theme in 2020 “design as an instrument containing an expression of sympathy for each other.”

In fact, this year’s Good Design Award was no exception to previous years in attracting a truly rich variety of entries. A major feature of the Good Design Award in recent years has been the inclusion of not only tangible, physical designs, but also intangible designs in the form of sounds and online services.

Saito The themes that the Good Design Award addresses include a variety of perspectives, including education, recycling, corporate initiatives, and startup ventures. How do we position them as players in the industry and contribute to the overall picture of society? I believe that, in selecting this year’s Good Design Best 100 (100 entries singled out from among all the award winning objects for high praise by the Judging Committee), we have chosen highly worthy designs that reflect this stance.

The Good Design Award presents items that symbolize the state of design right now

“I want us to continue our discussions based on our awareness of these issues into next year and beyond,” Saito says, summing up and talking About the prospects for the future. Ashitomi then added a fresh insight into the Good Design Award, which tends to be perceived solely as a competition to gain prestige.

Ashitomi What I want us all to recognize anew is that the Good Design Award is not a competition. While we call this selection the Best 100, it is not About determining the relative merits of one design over another. Rather, the point is to highlight, from among all the award winning objects, those items that best symbolize the state of design right now. In that sense, I believe it is a feature and a significant point that this year’s selection is distinguished by a good balance of variety, encompassing products, education, and projects, among others.

It is true that being selected to receive a Good Design Award from among the 4,769 entries from within Japan and overseas—including many from China and Taiwan—that were screened is an honor for designers and companies. However, trends in recent years toward a rise in the number of entries, the inclusion of an increasingly diverse range of domains, and growing international interest have bestowed on the award a role akin to a compass for discovering the state of design right now or the future of design coming soon.

Responding to the expanding COVID-19 crisis, many of this year’s award-winning entries featured mechanisms to facilitate remote working or designs aimed at enriching living and working from home environments. These entries in turn lead to a greater awareness of environmental conservation and the major global challenge that we face right now in the form of climate change.

Coined to describe long-term efforts to prevent the spread of infection, the phrase “new normal” might sound rather disquieting to the many people who regard the future of Japan and the world as a whole with apprehension. However, design can indeed take the form of initiatives aimed at providing a clear picture of that future or serving as a means of solving the problems that will occur. The designs featured in this year’s Good Design Award certainly make one feel that such possibilities are starting to burgeon.