Press Release
Two of Us Sauce Dish by Saya Takamine Wins the Bronze A' Design Award in Bakeware, Tableware, Drinkware and Cookware Design
Saya Takamine honored for bakeware, tableware, drinkware and cookware design by the international grand jury of the 2025 - 2026 A' Design Award & Competition
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
COMO, Italy, April 24, 2026 /DesignNewswire/ Two of Us Sauce Dish by Saya Takamine has been granted the Bronze A' Design Award in the Bakeware, Tableware, Drinkware and Cookware Design category, A' Design Award & Competition has announced. The recognition forms part of the 2025 - 2026 A' Design Award & Competition and was decided 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.
About the Bronze A' Design Award
The Bronze A' Design Award is given to outstanding designs that showcase a high degree of creativity and practicality. It recognizes the dedication and skill of designers who produce work that stands out for its thoughtful development and innovative use of materials and technology. These designs are acknowledged for their professional execution and potential to influence industry standards positively. Winning this award highlights the designer's ability to blend form and function effectively, offering solutions that enhance people's lives and wellbeing.
Regarding Two of Us Sauce Dish
This piece is designed to bring people with different food preferences together around a shared plate.It consists of two soy sauce dishes and one condiment dish allowing three different seasonings to be enjoyed. The design balances a compact and easy to handle size with a wide opening that supports comfortable dining. This balance is achieved through a wing like curvature in the condiment dish. Beyond functionality the piece features a clean and linear form accented by a graceful and visually appealing curve.
About Saya Takamine
She is studying design in Okinawa. Emphasis on logically analyzing and deeply understanding matters from multiple perspectives. Aming to become a designer who solves problems by leveraging her innate way of thinking and valuing everyday observations.
Award Record
This recognition makes Saya Takamine a winner of 1 A' Design Award.
About the A' Bakeware, Tableware, Drinkware and Cookware Design Award
The A' Kitchenware Design Award is an international design competition recognizing good kitchenware designs by best kitchenware brands and designers worldwide. It is organized within the A' Design Award & Competition and is open to kitchenware designers, product designers, industrial design studios and kitchenware brands from all countries. Typical entries include pots, pans, cutlery, plates, bowls and glasses. The awarded kitchenware designs are published at https://designers.org/design-category/kitchenware
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/179411
- A' Design Award Page: https://competition.adesignaward.com/179411
- Media Showcase: https://www.designnewsroom.com/!179411
- Laureate Profile: https://designers.org/d/376132
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
- Two of Us Sauce Dish
- Function
- Sauce Dish
- Category
- Bakeware, Tableware, Drinkware and Cookware Design
- Discipline
- Industrial Design
- Industry
- Furniture & Home and Food & Hospitality
- Colors
- Light Gray, Silver, Gainsboro, Gray and Dark Red
- Images
- 5
The Recognition
- Laureate
- Saya Takamine
- Country
- Japan
- Recognition
- Bronze A' Design Award
- Edition
- 2025 - 2026
- Design ID
- #179411
Credits
- Image Credits
- Image #1,2,3,4,5: Saya Takamine, Dai Takano
Design Details
- Unique Properties
- This compact dish consists of two sauce compartments and one condiment dish, allowing three seasonings to be enjoyed on a single plate. The curved edge of the condiment dish is a key design element, enabling a wide opening that makes dipping easy and a sufficient depth for effortless cleaning, while still maintaining a compact, easy to handle size. In contrast to the piece’s linear overall form, this gentle curve adds a subtle accent and becomes a distinctive feature of the design. By allowing differences in taste to coexist within a single object, the design proposes an alternative approach to shared dining that emphasizes proximity rather than separation.
- Inspiration
- I enjoy soy sauce, while my mother prefers vinegar. Because our seasoning preferences differ, we usually use separate dipping dishes during meals. However, I wanted to create a way for us to share a single dish and enjoy time together around the table. This idea became the starting point for this project.
- Research
- This project explored how to translate a conceptual design into ceramic slip casting, a method with limited freedom of form. Balancing the desired shape with the constraints of the molding process, the final design was refined through close consultation with an experienced ceramic craftsman, carefully determining which elements were essential to preserve usability. The final form expresses the negotiation between manufacturing constraints and the piece's functional qualities and visual beauty, as well as the outcome of deliberate adjustments.
- Challenge
- Small differences in depth, thickness, size, slope angle, and the offset between the two sauce dishes greatly affected the overall balance. Through repeated cycles of sketching and clay prototyping, the design was refined to achieve both usability and refined proportions, resulting in a disciplined and functional form.
- Realization and Technology
- The piece is made of ceramic using plaster slip casting molds. The thickness was carefully refined through repeated adjustments to the clay viscosity. Because the condiment dish shape could not be released from the mold as a single form, the sauce dishes and condiment dish were cast separately and later bonded together. This process made it possible to realize a complex, recessed design through slip casting.
- Operation and Interaction
- The two sauce dishes hold liquid seasonings, allowing food to be dipped directly. The central condiment dish is designed for solid seasonings such as wasabi or salt. Additionally, the condiment dish functions as a barrier, preventing liquid seasonings from flowing to the opposite side when poured directly onto food.
- Project Duration and Location
- The project started in April 2025 in Okinawa, Japan
- Specifications
- Width 80mm x Depth 20mm x Height 83mm
- Keywords
- Soy sauce dish, Small plate, Ceramic, Slip casting, Functionality, Two in One
