Press Release
There There - Kazune Watanabe Is Honored with the Golden A' Design Award for Designtide Tokyo 2024 Brand Identity in Graphics, Illustration and Visual Communication Design
There There - Kazune Watanabe honored for graphics, illustration and visual communication design by the international grand jury of the 2025 - 2026 A' Design Award & Competition
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
COMO, Italy, April 17, 2026 /DesignNewswire/ Designtide Tokyo 2024 Brand Identity by There There - Kazune Watanabe, designed for Designtide Tokyo Committee, has been granted the Golden A' Design Award in the Graphics, Illustration and Visual Communication Design category, A' Design Award & Competition has announced. The recognition forms part of the 2025 - 2026 A' Design Award & Competition and was reached through blind peer review by an international grand jury panel of established academics, design professionals and press members, who scored anonymized entries against predetermined criteria.
The Golden A' Design Award Explained
The Gold A' Design Award is granted to designs that demonstrate a high level of innovation and a significant impact on their intended audience. Recognized as a major achievement by the A' Design Awards, these designs are characterized by their visionary approach and the exceptional skill of their creators. Winners of the Gold A' Design Award are noted for their ability to push the envelope in art, science, design, and technology, delivering solutions that not only meet but exceed expectations. These designs serve as benchmarks for excellence, encouraging further innovation and inspiring future generations of designers.
About Designtide Tokyo 2024 Brand Identity
Designtide Tokyo is a design event of exhibitions and markets that explores and shares new trends in product design and related fields. Through design, it creates an immersive experience of energy and emotion beyond digital media. Held from 2005 to 2012, it shared design culture from Tokyo with the world. Each year, about 50 invited and selected designers presented works that valued creativity over commerce. In 2024, Designtide Tokyo was revived with a new logo and renewed vision.
About There There - Kazune Watanabe
Kazune Watanabe is the esteemed founder and art director of There There Ltd. After graduating from the prestigious Kuwasawa Design School in 2005, he gained invaluable experience working at KUDO Tsuyokatsu Design Laboratory and Soup Design Ltd. (now known as BOOTLEG Ltd.). In April 2018, Mr. Watanabe embarked on an independent venture, founding "There There" which was later incorporated in March 2022.
Award Record
This recognition makes There There - Kazune Watanabe a winner of 2 A' Design Awards. The awards were granted between the 2022 - 2023 and the 2025 - 2026 editions of the A' Design Award & Competition.
About the A' Graphics, Illustration and Visual Communication Design Award
The A' Graphic Design Award is an international graphic design competition recognizing good graphic designs by best creative agencies and designers worldwide. It is organized within the A' Design Award & Competition and is open to graphic designers, communication designers, graphic artists and illustrators from all countries. Typical entries include logos, posters, infographics, brochures, packaging designs and business cards. The awarded graphic designs are published at https://designers.org/design-category/graphics
About A' Design Award & Competition
Organized annually since 2008, A' Design Award & Competition is an international, juried design accolade. The competition is open to entries from all countries. The philanthropic mission of the A' Design Award is 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. Nominations are peer reviewed and evaluated anonymously 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. Eligible laureates receive the A' Design Prize, which 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, uploading a work and receiving a 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. More information is available at https://competition.adesignaward.com
Press Resources
- Winner Page: https://designers.org/174524
- A' Design Award Page: https://competition.adesignaward.com/174524
- Media Showcase: https://www.designnewsroom.com/!174524
- Laureate Profile: https://designers.org/d/343594
- Further Information from the Laureate: https://designtide.tokyo/2024/
Media Contact
Giulia Ferrari, Press Office
Designers.Org
Via Leone Leoni 32, 22100 Como, Italy
press@designers.org
+39 031 4491953
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Fact Sheet
The Work
- Project
- Designtide Tokyo 2024 Brand Identity
- Function
- Brand Identity
- Category
- Graphics, Illustration and Visual Communication Design
- Discipline
- Communication Design
- Industry
- Branding & Advertising and Arts
- Colors
- Dark Slate Gray, Black, Gray, Dim Gray and Light Slate Gray
- Images
- 5
- Client
- Designtide Tokyo Committee
The Recognition
- Laureate
- There There - Kazune Watanabe
- Country
- Japan
- Recognition
- Golden A' Design Award
- Edition
- 2025 - 2026
- Design ID
- #174524
Design Details
- Unique Properties
- "Designtide Tokyo" was originally held from 2005 to 2012 and introduced Tokyo design to the world. It supported many designers who later gained international recognition. In 2024 the event was revived with a new visual identity. In a society driven by trends and empathy, the new identity needed strong impact and interactivity. The graphics change in response to viewer movement such as approaching moving away or sliding. This behavior reflects the motion of tides.
- Inspiration
- "Designtide" refers to a major movement in design. Tides are created by the gravitational force of the moon. Natural forces alone create only surface movement. The aim of this project was to build a strong movement from the ground up. In an era shaped by social media and individual presentation, this graphics created based on the concept of tides for a major design event in Tokyo.
- Research
- From the 1990s to the early 2000s Tokyo hosted many influential design events. In recent years these opportunities have declined and large collective movements have become rare despite the spread of social media. "Designtide Tokyo 2024" was launched to renew this culture. Held in November 2024 in Tokyo it welcomed more than 6000 visitors and aimed to initiate a new movement in Japanese design.
- Challenge
- The challenge was to create an interactive identity that changes according to user behavior without using digital technology. Scanimation normally allows only limited frame movement. By refining slit pitch and carefully designing the base imagery we transformed this simple technique into a complex responsive visual system that encourages physical engagement.
- Realization and Technology
- The graphics use scanimation also known as slit animation. Movement appears only when viewers change their position or distance. No digital screens or electronic components are used. By carefully adjusting slit pitch and base imagery the work expands beyond simple animation into a more complex interactive experience. Materials include wood acrylic fabric and paper. Acrylic used at the venue was later reused.
- Operation and Interaction
- The project uses scanimation to let visitors experience a major movement in design. Each graphic responds to viewer actions such as approaching moving away or sliding. The image changes depending on distance and motion. This system expresses how individual gestures can create a larger collective flow. Small personal actions combine to form a powerful tide of change.
- Project Duration and Location
- Venue Nihonbashi Mitsui Hall Chuo ku Tokyo Japan Dates November 27 to December 1 2024
- Specifications
- Main Graphic Materials Wood Acrylic Fabric Size 2 meters 5 centimeters by 10 meters Printed Materials Poster Paper Plastic Sheet Size A2 Technical Characteristics Digital expression reproduced through analog methods without electronic components
- Keywords
- Graphic, Tide, Tokyo, Design, Animation
