Welcome to Good Design Expo 2011 ｜GOOD DESIGN EXPO 2011

Designs are ideas that enrich our lives, and designing is the very act of giving specific shape to those ideas. They enrich our lives, but not only in the financial sense. They enrich our lives by bringing a relevant balance of harmony to the mutual relationship between people, things, experiences, and the environment that encompasses them all. "Relevant" is the operating word in defining this enriched lifestyle, and whether things and experiences are relevant to a given environment can only be assessed through people's experiences over months and years of time. Things that are relevant will continue to last, and things that are not will disappear.

Good Design Expo gives us the opportunity to question and determine what are and are not relevant to our future lives. It also provides a forum where product developers and designers who have confronted this issue head-on can mutually present, evaluate, and commend the proud results of their efforts. A large number of people are expected to turn out for the event, including the people who took part in developing and designing the products on display, and students and general consumers who have an interest in new products and designs. The relevance of the exhibited designs is something that ought to be evaluated by all visitors. Therefore, to spotlight the exhibits themselves and to ensure their proper review, the tone of the show floor is kept simple and organized, forgoing any extravagant staging effects.

Through the experience of the large Tohoku earthquake and the nuclear accident in Fukushima, thoughts and values regarding lifestyles and product manufacturing have begun to change in each one of us. It is time now to evaluate designs not by their aesthetic appeal, but by whether they are really necessary to our future lives --- in other words, to evaluate them by their relevance. In this respect, Good Design Expo clearly takes on an important role.

Let us take this occasion to reconsider the true meaning of "enriched lifestyles" and "design relevance".