Over 5,000 entries and 1,600 winners marks new all time highs!

The Japan Institute of Design Promotion (chaired by Motomi Kawakami), the organizer of the Good Design Award, announced the 2021 award recipients on Wednesday, October 20. The organization started accepting entries for the Good Design Award 2021 on April 1 , and selected a total of 1,608 award-winning works following the screening of 5,835 entries.

The winners announced today include 100 works honored as the Good Design Best 100, a collection of entries that demonstrate excellence in the areas of originality, strength of proposal, aesthetics, and degree of realization, and the ability to raise the bar for current standards and serve as models of future design practice. The Good Design Special Award and finalist candidates for the Grand Award were selected from these Good Design Best 100 works. Following another round of judging, the Good Design Grand Award will be determined on November 2 as the symbolic design for the year 2021.

Todayʼs announcement also included the 22 recipients of the Good Design Long Life Design Award, which is given to products and projects that have won sustained support of the public over the years.

Good Design Award 2021 Results (year-on-year basis)
Awarded entries: 1,608(+213)
Awarded companies: 1,101 (+127)
Total entries: 5,835 (+1,066)
*The above numbers include 367 award-winning works from outside Japan

Good Design Long Life Design Award 2021
Results Awarded entries: 22,
Awarded companies: 27,
Total entries: 120

Statements regarding the Results from The Chair and Vice Chair

Chair Takashi Ashitomi (Product Designer & President, SAAT DESIGN Inc.)
The theme of the Good Design Award this year is “Aspirations and actions with consideration.” At no other time has the world needed to share their hopes (aspirations) and to create a new future by working together (actions with consideration). During the judging process this year, I encountered a number of designs full of such aspirations and actions with consideration. All of them are designs that enhance the connection between people, society and the environment, and they respond to our wishes. Good designs change the world and people’s frame of minds by expanding, amplifying and enhancing the outcomes among the various elements that make up our society.

Vice Chair Seiichi Saito (Creative Director & CEO, Rhizomatiks Co., Ltd)
Looking back on the screening process based on the themes of “actions with consideration” and “aspirations,” of particular note was the “strong sense of ownership in design as a whole.” Many designs strongly expressed the desired direction of society as implied in “aspirations,” and the will to take actions to advance in that direction as implied in “actions with consideration.” This proves that design is not just about analyzing the current situation and creating something new, but also about taking on the responsibility of helping individuals, organizations and companies envision the ideal society and leading the way to its realization. I am strongly convinced that these efforts will be spun together to form a swell of actions with considerations.

About the Good Design Award
Established in 1957, the Good Design Award is Japanʼs leading commendation system. Eligible for application are products, architecture, applications and software, projects and initiatives that utilize design and more. This award system helps many people to come in contact with “good designs” and allows them to appreciate their value. The recognition rate of the award is 84%* with its familiar symbol, the G-Mark. *According to the latest survey by Japan Institute of Design Promotion in 2020.

 

About the Good Design Long Life Design Award
The Long Life Design Award is given to products and services that have the potential to lead the way in the future of design and be cherished as the standard that transcends the times. Instead of merely praising them for their long-standing achievements, the purpose of this award is to applaud designs that are treasured in peopleʼs daily lives and hoped to continue to exist, and to recognize the creators responsible for developing these designs.