Here’s How The LEXUS DESIGN AWARD Is Driving Innovation For A Better Tomorrow

In a nutshell, that’s what the LEXUS DESIGN AWARD is all about. Fueled by the power of design to build a better future for society, a brand like Lexus is no stranger to constant innovation.

Now in its 11th year, the LEXUS DESIGN AWARD 2023 allows up-and-coming creators to demonstrate their fresh, imaginative solutions and develop these ideas through a unique mentorship program to Design for a Better Tomorrow.

This year, a judging panel, consisting of design world stars Paola Antonelli (Senior Curator for the Department of Architecture and Design at MoMA, NY), Karim Rashid (Designer, Karim Rashid Inc.) and Simon Humphries (Chief Branding Officer, Toyota Motor Corporation), selected four winners from among 2,068 entries from 63 countries and regions:

• Fog-X by Pavels Hedström: A jacket that transforms into a fog-catching shelter that provides the user with drinking water in arid environments.
• Print Clay Humidifier by Jiaming Liu: A sustainable non-electric humidifier made with recycled ceramic waste.
• Touch the Valley, by Temporary Office (Vincent Lai & Douglas Lee): A unique puzzle system designed to assist the visually impaired in perceiving the physical world through touch.
• Zero Bag by Kyeongho Park & Yejin Heo: An eco-friendly package with paper detergent or baking soda film attached to an alginate water-soluble bag.

Through dynamic discussions with mentors, the winners were able to focus on Narrative, Design, Engineering and Development to elevate their final prototypes. This year’s winners had the unique experience of developing their concepts alongside four world-class mentors representing different fields of expertise:

• Marjan van Aubel – Solar Designer, Marjan van Aubel Studio
• Joe Doucet – Designer/Founder, Joe Doucet x Partners
• Yuri Suzuki – Artist and Designer/Partner, Pentagram
• Sumayya Vally – Architect/Principal, Counterspace

After a three-month mentorship program with a series of workshops and one-on-one prototype development sessions to take their professional development to new heights, winners debuted the finalized prototypes on the international stage at Milan Design Week 2023.

With all this excitement and innovation on the horizon, we had the chance to talk with Toyota Motor Corporation Chief Branding Officer Simon Humphries about his perspective on the competition and experience as a judge during the LEXUS DESIGN AWARD 2023.

Simon Humphries: I always liked to draw when I was young and was lucky enough to have a teacher at school who told me, at the age of about 13, that I should try to become a designer, which I did. At the end of my college years, I was fortunate to win the Royal College of Art bursary competition and was invited to work at Sony in Tokyo. Of course, this was during the “bubble” years, 1988, and Japan really left a lasting impression on me, so after returning to the UK and working in a product design consultancy, I decided that I wanted to work in Japan again and returned at the end of 1989.

The next 5 years were spent in a small design consultancy working on everything from consumer electronics to bathroom design. In 1994 I applied for a job at Toyota, and was lucky to be accepted despite my lack of experience in the automotive field. Even now I feel grateful for the trust they placed in me. Ironically, as we move toward the mobility era, where all manner of mobility solutions, from robots to drones, are becoming ever more important, perhaps my experience in other areas will become an asset.

Simon Humphries: The Lexus brand was born from the belief that there was a better way to do things. In 1989, when the first-generation LS was released, the whole proposition was to challenge preconceptions and stereotypes through creative solutions that hopefully redefined the prestige automotive experience. In other words, the power of creativity to change the future for the better is at the heart of the Lexus brand, and the LEXUS DESIGN AWARD is a way of encouraging and supporting designers and creators in furthering this endeavor.

I always look forward to seeing how the proposals have evolved through the mentoring process. This is something that is very unique about the LEXUS DESIGN AWARD competition, where the final selection is not the end of the creative process, but rather the beginning.

Simon Humphries: I believe that good design, in the same way as powerful brands, has to have a clear belief and narrative behind them to resonate with people. From that point of view, design and branding are basically one and the same.

As the head of design for both the Toyota and Lexus brands, it was perhaps a natural step into the judging position for the LEXUS DESIGN AWARD. Creativity is at the base of everything I/we do on a daily level and judging is in many ways an extension of this.

Simon Humphries: Of course, the favorite part has to be seeing the faces of the winners when they are announced, but other than that, it’s probably the discussion. I think that all the judges do their utmost to be rational and fair when they narrow down the proposals at the first stage by themselves. However, when we put them all on the table and discuss the shortlist together, then there’s a chance to hear other opinions and points of view. The judges are all from different backgrounds and cultures, and just getting the chance to understand a completely different opinion that may broaden or change your own opinions is always interesting.

Simon Humphries: We, as designers, have a unique responsibility to create answers to challenges, whether that is through innovative ideas, beautiful aesthetics or any other method that could offer a better future. From this point of view, the winning ideas were a clear reminder of the “power of design.” It was incredibly heartening to see the passion each had for the cause they had chosen and the narrative they used to describe it. I was especially pleased to see the winners creating simple, elegant solutions…no easy task!

Simon Humphries: What I expect, over and above the criteria that Lexus sets in the award, is originality. Originality that has a story or message that proposals are seeking to achieve for a better way forward.

As for the mentorship, the biggest expectation I had for the 4 winners this year was for them to be open-minded, and work with the mentors to take their ideas to the next level. It’s no easy task for designers to be self-critical of their work, but it is incredibly important if they want to take their projects to a higher level.

Simon Humphries: Quite simply, the level of human creativity never ceases to amaze me. Perhaps the overriding factor for me personally was that all the proposals had a real feeling of simplicity and elegance to them. It wasn’t something that they were over-designing or overthinking, which in many cases is the easy route for a designer to take. They were simple, but they were also very emotive as well.

Simon Humphries: The LEXUS DESIGN AWARD system was initiated to celebrate the importance of design in shaping the lives of people around the world. The uniqueness of the award is that it does not end with a submission. The mentor system is a very original and special process, giving the opportunity for winners to share ideas with mentors and take them to the next level. I often think that as we move into the “connected” era, wouldn’t it be fantastic if we could harness the power of “open-source creativity,” not necessarily to design en masse, but rather to provide positive insights and perspectives from all walks of life to help designers better understand people’s needs?

With influential designers from diverse creative spheres committing themselves to nurturing the next generation of creators, the LEXUS DESIGN AWARD strives to make a world where design creates an enriched sense of happiness for all. As the years go by and the great minds behind the LEXUS DESIGN AWARD collaborate and innovate together, the possibilities are endless.

Learn more about the LEXUS DESIGN AWARD 2023 and the winners who Design for a Better Tomorrow.