2017.08.31

JAGDA New Designer Awards 2017: selection process and exhibitions

Award Winners
Taichi Tamaki, Haruka Misawa, and Yoshihiro Yagi

Publication: “Graphic Design in Japan 2017” (June 2017)
Award Ceremony: JAGDA General Assembly 2017 on 23 June 2017 in Tokyo

Exhibitions
Tuesday 30 May to Thursday 29 June 2017 at Creation Gallery G8, Tokyo
Monday 11 July to Thursday 20 July 2017 at Paper Voice Osaka, Osaka
Monday 18 September to Monday 9 October 2017 at Gallery Art Site, Seian Art Center, Seian University of Art and Design, Shiga
Monday 16 to Saturday 28 October 2017 at 1F Gallery, Nippon Designer Academy of Fine Arts, Aichi
Monday 6 to Sunday 12 November 2017 at Kumamoto Design Professional Training College, Kumamoto
Saturday 2 to Sunday 17 December 2017 at Gallery, Niigata Prefectural Museum of Modern Art, Niigata
Saturday 6 to Sunday 21 January 2018 at Shizuoka City Cultural and Creative Industries Promotion Center (CCC), Shizuoka



Selection Process of the JAGDA New Designer Awards 2017
The JAGDA New Designer Awards were established in 1983 with the goals of calling attention to outstanding young designers and vitalizing the realm of graphic design. The award winners – normally no more than 3 – are selected each year from among all entrants who have not reached their 40th birthday as of the end of October of the judging year.

This year 145 designers with works featured in the 2017 JAGDA Annual qualified as “new designers” (JAGDA members under age 40 as of October 31, 2016). Among these, a first round of voting was held for the 28 individuals and 1 pair who had 3 or more featured works in total selected in the 10 categories (2 or more if the Integrated Design category was included). The featured works of each designer (or pair) were grouped together at the judging session, with the names of the designers concealed. In this first round, the 28 members of the Selection Committee in attendance were each permitted to cast up to 5 votes in total, but they were not required to use up their quota. The outcome showed 7 individuals garnering 10 or more votes, thereby qualifying them as finalists.

The second round of voting was then conducted, only this time with each member of the Selection Committee casting 3 votes in total (without the option of not casting all allotted votes). Again, the designers’ names were concealed. In this round each Committee member indicated his or her choices for 1st, 2nd and 3rd places; a 1st-place vote was worth 3 points, 2nd place 2 points, and 3rd place 1 point. Four designers received the most points: Haruka Misawa (59 points/26 votes), Yoshihiro Yagi (28 points/17 votes), Taichi Tamaki (20 points/10 votes) and Ayaka Shimizu (20 points/9 votes).

In keeping with the rule limiting the number of award recipients to no more than 3, an extraordinary third round of voting was then held to break the tie in points between Taichi Tamaki and Ayaka Shimizu. This time each judge was allowed 1 vote and the result was 16 votes for Mr. Tamaki and 11 votes for Ms. Shimizu. The 2017 New Designer Awards were thus bestowed on Haruka Misawa, Yoshihiro Yagi and Taichi Tamaki.

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