Press Release
Kokorozashi Mirror Corporate Identity Signage by Unou Jikenn, Inc. Receives the Bronze A' Design Award in Advertising, Marketing and Communication Design
The international grand jury of the 2025 - 2026 A' Design Award & Competition recognizes Unou Jikenn, Inc. of Unou-Jikenn for advertising, marketing and communication design
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
COMO, Italy, April 16, 2026 /DesignNewswire/ A' Design Award & Competition has confirmed the Bronze A' Design Award in the Advertising, Marketing and Communication Design category for Kokorozashi Mirror Corporate Identity Signage by Unou Jikenn, Inc. of Unou-Jikenn, designed for Mitsui & Co., Ltd.. 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.
What the Bronze A' Design Award Means
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.
More About Kokorozashi Mirror Corporate Identity Signage
Kokorozashi Mirror is a corporate identity signage installation created for Mitsui & Co., Ltd. The signage is placed in a station passage that connects to the company headquarters. Photographs of employees and workplace scenes represent ten business divisions. Handwritten messages overlaid on the images express the aspirations of each division. A mirror stands at the end of the passage and carries the brand tagline It all begins with Kokorozashi. Viewers see their own reflection together with the message, which invites personal reflection.
About Unou Jikenn, Inc.
Unou-Jikenn, Inc. is a Tokyo-based "Experience Design" agency with over 20 years of history. Transcending the conventional boundaries of video, spatial, and graphic mediums, the firm focuses on designing the experience itself to deeply move its target audiences. For Unou-Jikenn, creating content is never the ultimate goal; rather, it serves as a practical means to resolve clients' challenges and achieve their specific objectives. By strategically crafting optimal experiences that appeal to human emotions, the company effectively drives fundamental problem-solving.
About Unou-Jikenn
Unou-Jikenn is a Tokyo-based Experience Design agency. Transcending media boundaries, it crafts emotional experiences. Content is a strategic tool to drive fundamental problem-solving for clients.
Award Record
This recognition makes Unou Jikenn, Inc. of Unou-Jikenn a winner of 1 A' Design Award.
About the A' Advertising, Marketing and Communication Design Award
The A' Advertising Design Award is an international advertising design competition recognizing good advertisement designs by designers and agencies worldwide. It is organized within the A' Design Award & Competition and is open to advertising designers, marketing professionals, communication designers and creative directors from all countries. Typical entries include advertisement campaigns, billboards, commercials, print ads, social media campaigns and direct mails. The awarded advertising designs are published at https://designers.org/design-category/advertising
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/181004
- A' Design Award Page: https://competition.adesignaward.com/181004
- Media Showcase: https://www.designnewsroom.com/!181004
- Laureate Profile: https://designers.org/d/376250
- Further Information from the Laureate: https://www.mitsui.com/jp/en/
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
- Kokorozashi Mirror Corporate Identity Signage
- Function
- Corporate Identity Signage
- Category
- Advertising, Marketing and Communication Design
- Discipline
- Communication Design
- Industry
- Branding & Advertising
- Colors
- Gray, Dim Gray, Dark Gray, Dark Slate Gray and White
- Images
- 5
- Client
- Mitsui & Co., Ltd.
The Recognition
- Laureate
- Unou Jikenn, Inc.
- Country
- Japan
- Brand
- Unou-Jikenn
- Recognition
- Bronze A' Design Award
- Edition
- 2025 - 2026
- Design ID
- #181004
Credits
- Team
- Daichi Takizawa, Akira Sudo, Fumio Doi, Takumi Ota, Masayo Tachibana, Yuki Ito, Shiori Kusabe, Shota Takei, 502 Tanaka, Kurumi Kamata, Metro Ad Agency Co., Ltd. and Kashiwa Sato
- Image Credits
- Images 1 to 5: Photographer Takumi Ota. Video Credits: Director, Cinematographer and Editor Yuki Nobue.
Design Details
- Unique Properties
- This display visually expresses the roles and values of each business division, based on Mitsui & Co.'s brand tagline: It all begins with Kokorozashi. Unique to this display is the use of mirrors. The use of an innovative display mirror with the theme It all begins with Kokorozashi provides employees with a unique opportunity to reflect on their own aspirations in the context of their work. And it also shows other passersby that Mitsui & Co. is a company that values its people's aspirations.
- Inspiration
- As a global trading and investment company, Mitsui & Co. faces the challenge that its wide range of businesses makes it difficult for many people to understand what exactly it is and its people do. Images of employees and workplace scenes are overlaid with messages articulating the Kokorozashi of each business division, followed by the reflection of the person looking into the mirror and the message. It symbolizes the inner drive needed to turn aspirations into reality.
- Research
- To visualize the brand tagline Kokorozashi, we expressed the aspirations of Mitsui & Co.'s 10 business divisions through handwritten messages. The aim was to convey that the company values personal aspiration, and to communicate the diverse range of its businesses. We developed a spatial design featuring the brand tagline on mirrors and the aspirations of the business divisions, reconstructing the station passage into a narrative space for visitors to experience the corporate values.
- Challenge
- The greatest challenge was inspiring Mitsui & Co. employees to reflect on their own Kokorozashi. Conventional signage offers merely a passive viewing experience. However, by having viewers superimpose their reflections over the concept It all begins with Kokorozashi displayed on a mirror, we created a natural catalyst for them to question their own aspirations. This transformed a one way message into an interactive experience.
- Realization and Technology
- This PR display can communicate a variety of messages reinforcing the overall theme of Kokorozashi. The layout is unified so the different messages are easy to read. By using handwriting, the concept is personalized and individualized.
- Operation and Interaction
- The placement of the displays is arranged according to the natural flow of traffic to maximize impact. There are messages from 10 different employees one after the other. The brand tagline comes last in the mirror. This allows passersby to get a sense of each business division's aspirations. The mirror and its message make a connection to them personally, to their own lives. It all begins with Kokorozashi.
- Project Duration and Location
- Published: August 28, 2025 to Present in Tokyo, Japan.
- Specifications
- Mirror Signage: Width 1377 mm x Depth 3 mm x Height 1030 mm. Business Unit Signage: Width 1377 mm x Depth 3 mm x Height 1030 mm.
- Keywords
- OOH, Out of home, Advertising, CI, Corporate Identity, Signboard, Station sign, Mirror
