Press Release
Origami Letter Messaging Tool by Aquaring Inc. Receives the Silver A' Design Award in Website and Web Design
Aquaring Inc. recognized for website and web design by the international grand jury of the 2021 - 2022 A' Design Award & Competition
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
COMO, Italy, April 28, 2022 /DesignNewswire/ A' Design Award & Competition has confirmed the Silver A' Design Award in the Website and Web Design category for Origami Letter Messaging Tool by Aquaring Inc.. The recognition forms part of the 2021 - 2022 A' Design Award & Competition and was determined through blind peer review by an international grand jury panel of established academics, design professionals and press members, who assessed anonymized entries against predetermined criteria.
What the Silver A' Design Award Means
The Silver A' Design Award celebrates top-tier designs that embody excellence and innovation. This award acknowledges creations that are not only aesthetically pleasing but also highly functional, reflecting the designer's deep understanding and skill. Silver A' Design Award recipients are recognized for their contribution to raising industry standards and advancing the practice of design. Their work often incorporates original innovations and elicits a strong emotional response, making a notable impact on the improvement of everyday life.
Regarding Origami Letter Messaging Tool
This is a messaging tool that uses origami to express emotion. Origami is the traditional Japanese craft of paper folding that began as a courtesy. In the past Japanese decorative paper was folded neatly for gift wrapping. This tool uses modern communication to allow people to create a digital origami letter then send it or print and fold it themselves, giving them two ways to enjoy their messages.
About Aquaring Inc.
Aquaring is a Japanese design firm specializing in strategy development and production in the digital domain, including website production and improvements in PDCA, offering new services and product planning and development, in addition to UX/UI design and branding. We are a recipient of a number of awards including a A' Design Award, iF DESIGN AWARD Gold, WEBBY AWARD, JAPAN MEDIA ARTS FESTIVAL Jury Selection prize, GOOD DESIGN AWARD, etc.
Award Record
With this recognition, Aquaring Inc. is a winner of 1 A' Design Award.
About the A' Website and Web Design Awards
The A' Web Design Award is an international web design competition recognizing good web designs by leading web designers, coders and developers worldwide. The competition is organized within the A' Design Award & Competition and is open to web designers, user interface designers, user experience designers and graphic designers from all countries. Entries typically include web design, portfolios, e-commerce sites, blogs, news websites and social media platforms. Awarded web designs are published at https://designers.org/design-category/web
About A' Design Award & Competition
A' Design Award & Competition is an international, juried design accolade organized annually since 2008. The competition is open to entries from all countries. The A' Design Award has a philanthropic mission to advance society through good design by recognizing and promoting superior products, projects and services that benefit society, and by creating a global awareness and appreciation for good design practices and principles. Entries are peer reviewed and anonymously evaluated by an international grand jury panel of established academics, design professionals and press members against predetermined criteria such as functionality, ergonomics, engineering, presentation, innovation, usability, sustainability and technology, with score normalization applied to remove biases. Awards are conferred at Platinum, Gold, Silver, Bronze and Iron levels. The A' Design Prize granted to eligible laureates includes the award trophy, the certificate of design excellence, the hardcover yearbook, a lifetime license to use the A' Design Award winner logo, exhibition of awarded works, an invitation to the gala night and award ceremony in Italy, inclusion in the World Design Rankings and Designer Rankings, and public relations and publicity services. Registration, the upload of a work and the preliminary score are free of charge, and Professional and Digital Edition laureates are not contractually obliged to pay further fees to claim the A' Design Prize. Further information is available at https://competition.adesignaward.com
Press Resources
- Winner Page: https://designers.org/132308
- A' Design Award Page: https://competition.adesignaward.com/132308
- Media Showcase: https://www.designnewsroom.com/!132308
- Laureate Profile: https://designers.org/d/319422
- Further Information from the Laureate: https://global.brother/en/origami/
Media Contact
Giulia Ferrari, Press Office
Designers.Org
Via Leone Leoni 32, 22100 Como, Italy
press@designers.org
+39 031 4491953
###
Fact Sheet
The Work
- Project
- Origami Letter Messaging Tool
- Function
- Messaging Tool
- Category
- Website and Web Design
- Discipline
- Communication Design
- Industry
- Software and Branding & Advertising
- Colors
- Peru, Light Gray, Lavender, Rosy Brown and Dark Slate Gray
- Images
- 5
The Recognition
- Laureate
- Aquaring Inc.
- Country
- Japan
- Recognition
- Silver A' Design Award
- Edition
- 2021 - 2022
- Design ID
- #132308
Credits
- Team
- Satoshi Nanbu, Kazuteru Ohashi, Naoki Sato, Ran Gu, Wataru Kani, Taku Ota, Misako Baba, Hideyuki Hirano, Masamichi Kagechika, Chihiro Okada, Daiju Mizuno and Yasuko Sueyoshi and others
- Image Credits
- ORIGAMI LETTER PROJECT TEAM
Design Details
- Unique Properties
- Origami Letter is a messaging tool using origami to express feelings. On the site users can fold a digital letter or print and fold a paper letter, giving users two ways to send messages. It was awarded Gold at the iF Design Award in Germany.
- Inspiration
- Origami is the traditional Japanese craft of paper folding that began as a form of courtesy when washi paper was folded neatly to wrap gifts. Brother, a printer manufacturer, wishes to respect this Japanese tradition by making it a modern communication tool for people to convey their feelings.
- Research
- We sought to create a communication tool between a letter and a chat app. Apps are an everyday part of life, but they lack emotion with their simple UI, while handwriting can be a pain. That's why our tool is easy to use and express your feelings to others. It is the perfect communication tool for today's world. After launching, we received a positive worldwide response.
- Challenge
- Our biggest creative challenge was expressing the beauty of origami, and how a piece of paper can become a 3D shape in a digital user experience. We paid particular attention to the first fold that hides the message, matching it to the same fold when using paper. It was accomplished through repeated examination and prototyping. In addition, we created a 3D animation by overlaying images using CG to produce a beautiful and bold expression.
- Realization and Technology
- We created a design with detailed decorations by combining the geometric similarities between origami, a sequence of folds, and the Middle Eastern arabesque patterns. For example, the polyhedral net for the origami crane inspired the arabesque pattern that appears when it is complete. These details and relaxing animations express a subtle worldview of heartfelt messages.
- Operation and Interaction
- Folding paper origami is difficult for new users, but Origami Letter makes it easy for everyone. After writing a message, users can swipe or click to fold the digital letter, and finish it in three simple steps. Then they can share the URL, and send their precious message to someone special. It can be downloaded as a PDF and printed out to have the experience of folding it with real paper.
- Project Duration and Location
- The site officially launched in July 2020, but not promoted because the Dubai Expo, scheduled in October 2020, was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Following several revisions, publicity began in October 2021 to coincide with the official opening of the Dubai Expo and International Letter Writing Week, which aims to promote cultural exchange and contribute to world peace through letter-writing among people worldwide.
- Specifications
- For the digital letter, we created a system that converts text input by the user into WebGL textures without affecting their appearance. By combining pre-rendered images from 3DCG software with WebGL textures, we maintain a natural look and feel while enabling real-time interaction. We designed it as a single-page application that seamlessly creates a sequence of events, from writing a letter to completing the folded origami.
- Keywords
- japan, origami, letter, message, culture, brother, expo, interactive, communication, webgl
