This year's G-Mark greets the change of centuries marked by the move from the year 2000 to 2001. The Japanese industrial structure has also undergone a transition in which the country has shifted from an industry-based to an information-based society. "Mass production/mass consumption-oriented products" have disappeared from product applications to be replaced by a majority of value-added products offering new lifestyles to users.
The "lifestyle-oriented product" differs from the "icon products" that symbolized wealth in the bubble economy as they do not come in the finalized form featured in "finished products." Beyond the primary condition of product quality demanded by consumers, these products offer user customization; provide new services and software; and put environmental consideration into practice. The underlying concept is to allow users the freedom to constantly change the design of product form to suit any specific circumstance. Said to have reached a mature stage of design, household appliances also fall within this category. Ordered industrial housing and facilities, as well as the interior design created by a variety of products adapted to the user's lifestyle, possess these qualities as well.
Consider the products awarded the Gold Prize this year for example: the new family bathing style proposed by Matsushita; the juicer in answer to increased health awareness among the middle-aged and senior citizens; and the furniture designed to harmonize with existing interiors created by Arflex Japan. Each of these falls into the category of the lifestyle-oriented product. Rather than competing for higher levels of design finishing, these products were created with a view to ultimately resolving the issue of incorporating the product into users' lifestyles. For this reason, the important issue for lifestyle-oriented products is their images in the eyes of users. The issue of image, however, is not applicable only to users. Lifestyle products are only those for which everyone involved in the production and sales channels - everyone at the production site and involved with distribution - has an accurate understanding the particular product's target image.

 
Ability to Communicate, Capacity to Innovate

Patents taken out by a company's development department or designer no longer represent the value society places on design as "lifestyle." Social value today stems instead from the systematic network spanning the top echelons of management through the distribution terminals and users. The well planned "MUJI" products of Ryohin Keikaku Co., Ltd. and NTT DoCoMo "i-mode", both of which received the newly established Design Management Prize in the New Territory Design Category this year, are examples of this. "MUJI" has pioneered branding based on a clear corporate concept and has been the first to develop manufacture-retailing. "i-mode" was commended for the ability of the company to reject traditional marketing concepts in favor of tapping into latent demand of which even the user was unaware. The success of "i-mode" is due to the company's "communicability," the capacity to communicate with society as a whole, as well as users individually.

 
Technical Capacity Supports Innovations

Miyake Design Studio's "A-POC," recipient of this year's Grand Prize, brims with the type of innovativeness that will create 21st century design breakthroughs. The "A-POC" pursuit of the same elimination of waste in the fashion production process as in finished industrial products has generated a innovative method of production under which designers are able to control each aspect from the material production stage. The secondary advantages of this system's liberal use of computers are design innovations and the ability to mass-produce products.
The Mizuno "Speedo Fast Skin" swimsuit, which was barely beaten out by "A-POC" for the Grand Prize, features a new type of fabric, which advanced technological development has made possible. The fact that 60% of the athletes who made it onto the medal podiums at the Sydney Olympics wore this new fabric illustrates the strength of Japanese development.

 
Screening Standards

As in the award process last year, this year's screening also began with primary document screening. 80 percent of applications were submitted online, and Judges were able to take as much time as necessary to screen applications in detail. As a result, the detailed primary screening made the selections in the main evaluation process during secondary screening fairly obvious in each category.
The G-Mark Judges first ask whether the basic question of whether the product is of good design. Beyond this, Judges look for products that set standards in superior and breakthrough design that enriches our lives. In terms of the latter, this year's product awards can be summarized as follows.
With universal and ecological design, both of which are aspects of evaluating superior design, now incorporated into a significant number of corporate plans, these issues appear to have taken root in the design community. This awareness would seem to make more stringent screening criteria encompassing such issues as the extent to which the entire manufacturing process addresses lifestyle assessment necessary in terms of conferring Theme Prizes.
In terms of breakthrough design, sectors other than the already globally competitive household electronics and automobile sectors are also beginning to create new technologies and pivotal products designed for the world market. The Mitutoyo gauge and Okamura stool are based on the same fundamental development concept as the NTT DoCoMo PHS modem card and The Honda passenger car. The most important issue in this respect is the possibility to integrate high-performance functionality into a compact and lower-price product. We believe that the manufacturing capacity necessary to continue to compete in the world market will take root in Japanese culture, and we expect even greater results in the future.