Award Winners
Yuri Uenishi, Eriko Kawakami and Masashi Murakami

Publication: “Graphic Design in Japan 2016” (June 2016)
Award Ceremony: JAGDA General Assembly 2016 on 25 June 2015 at Kamishichiken Kaburenjo Theatre

Exhibitions
Tuesday 7 June to Friday 1 July 2016 at Creation Gallery G8, Tokyo
Monday 11 July to Thursday 21 July 2016 at Paper Voice Osaka, Osaka
Wednesday 19 September to Wednesday 1 October, 2016 at Gallery Art Site, Seian Art Center, Seian University of Art and Design, Shiga
Wednesday 12 to Saturday 15 October, 2016 at Sojo Gallery, Sojo University, Kumamoto
Saturday 22 to Wednesday 26 October, 2016 at NID Hall, Nagaoka Institute of Design, Niigata
Saturday 5 to Saturday 12 November, 2016 at 1F Gallery, Nippon Designer Academy of Fine Arts, Aichi
Sunday 18 to Sunday 25 December, 2016 at Shizuoka University of Art and Culture, Shizuoka

Selection Process of the 2016 JAGDA New Designer Awards
The JAGDA New Designer Awards were established in 1983 with the goals of calling attention to outstanding young designers and vitalizing the realm of graphic design. The award winners – normally no more than 3 – are selected each year from among all JAGDA member entrants who have not reached their 40th birthday as of the end of October of the judging year.

This year 169 designers with works featured in the 2016 JAGDA Annual qualified as “new designers” (under age 40 as of October 31, 2015). Among these, a first round of voting was held for the 33 individuals and 1 pair who had a total of 3 or more works featured in the 10 categories (2 or more if the Integrated Design category was included). The featured works of each designer (or pair) were grouped together at the judging session; all names were kept anonymous. In this first round, the 27 members of the Selection Committee were permitted to cast up to 5 votes each, but they were not required to use up their quota. A total of 8 individuals respectively garnered 7 or more votes, thereby becoming finalists.
The final round of voting, using printed sheets, was then conducted, only this time each member of the Selection Committee was required to cast 3 votes. Again, the designers’ names were kept anonymous. In this round each judge indicated his or her choices for 1st, 2nd and 3rd places; a 1st-place vote was worth 3 points, 2nd place 2 points, and 3rd place 1 point. The designers who received the most votes in this second round, and who thereby won this year’s JAGDA New Designer Awards, were Yuri Uenishi (38 points/18 votes), Masashi Murakami (34 points/15 votes) and Eriko Kawakami (23 points/10 votes).