AWARD

The Good Design Awards is a comprehensive program for the evaluation and encouragement of design organized by Japan Industrial Design Promotion Organization (JIDPO).

The award’s parent organization is the Good Design Products Selection System (commonly known as the G Mark system), established in 1957 by the then Ministry of International Trade and Industry (the current Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry). At that time, Japanese citizens had a hard time scraping together enough food to get by. This award system was born out of the belief that design was essential in breaking out of this cycle of poverty. Since then, the Good Design Award has been given to outstanding designs for more than 50 years in the pursuit of prosperous lives and industrial development. Approximately 35,000 Good Design Awards have been given in continuing these efforts.

JIDPO receives approximately 3,000 submissions from more than 1,000 companies and designers every year. These designs are screened by about 70 design experts, who select and recommend those designs worthy of the Good Design Awards. However, the Good Design Awards is not a beauty contest, nor is it an award that assesses the design’s outcome in economic terms. Rather, the Good Design Awards is a system that aims to channel the eminent powers of distinctive designs to build prosperous lives and encourage sound industrial development. Indeed, it is a campaign to brighten and enrich society through design.

Today’s Good Design Awards are being recognized in global community proving that design leads to new answers in a variety of domains of human activity, and also offers signposts for tomorrow’s lifestyle to the public, industry and society overall. Design is essential to improving the lives of every individual in the twenty-first century.