Screening for GOOD DESIGN AWARD 2023 has finally started!

The screening process for the GOOD DESIGN AWARD is carried out by screening units consisting of four to five judges. Each screening unit will judge entries in the responsible category. There are 19 units in total this year. The units range widely, from household goods and architecture to system services.

Messages from the Chairperson and Vice Chairperson to the judges

At the beginning of the meeting, Mr. Seiichi Saito, Chairperson, sent a message to the judges about this year's theme, “Design with Outcomes,” and “the importance of crossover discussions.”

“In recent years, it seems there has been an increase in the number of award-winning objects that can’t be evaluated in just one unit. One of the major aspects of the GOOD DESIGN AWARD is that there is crossover and discussion between units. How should we confront current design, inheriting the context of the GOOD DESIGN AWARD, which started in 1957? Through the screening process, let’s make it a place to find out how to lead design and society into the next phase.”

Also, two Vice Chairpersons, Mr. Jin Kuramoto and Ms. Yuko Nagayama, said that they had a lot to gain and enjoyed serving as judges for the past eight years. They shared a vision, saying that they would like to work hard to amplify that enjoyment, and that they would like to rethink the extent to which the power of design can reach the world, and to find designs that open the way to the future for children, rather than designs that are consumed.

The screening finally gets underway.

After that, the screening of each unit started. This year, following the end of the emergency response phase of COVID-19, things are slowly returning to normal. What does the GOOD DESIGN AWARD consider “good design” this year when life begins anew? We felt that the judges were trying to update “design” itself while looking over and discussing information for entries.

New unit leaders and judges

Each screening unit has a unit leader who coordinates discussions. We asked three of the judges who became unit leaders this year how they felt about the screening process.

Unit 10 Furniture / Equipment and Facilities for Office and Public Space Nobuyoshi Yamazaki (Product Designer / UX Design Researcher / Professor, Department of Design, Faculty of Fine Arts, Tokyo University of the Arts) I want to have the perspective that design is bright and fun. I like to keep the perspective of “social issues,” which is also the standpoint of the GOOD DESIGN AWARD screening. I would like to cherish the idea that we can evaluate because we feel the design is good, even though we may not be able to explain why.

Unit 14 Construction (Industry and Commercial Facility) Yuri Naruse (Architect / CEO, Naruse Inokuma Architects Co., Ltd.) I have finally returned to my normal life. Looking back over the past three years, I thought over and over what was important in our lives. From the resulting perspective, I hope the screening will be an opportunity to consider life in the future.

Unit 17 System and Services Tasuku Mizuno (Lawyer / City Lights Law) I feel that it has now become commonplace for apps and services to apply for the GOOD DESIGN AWARD. This year, I want to look for something newer.

Eleven people have become judges for the first time this year. The screening process proceeds while incorporating new perspectives in each field. (Information on the judges can be found here.)

Screening schedule

The first round of screening, which started with this plenary session of judges, will continue until June 26. After that, the second round of screening will begin after notifying the applicants of the first-round results. The award announcement will be made on October 5.

The detailed schedule is available here.

We will continue to report on the screening process and how this year’s “good design” will be decided. Don’t miss it!