Designtide Tokyo 2024 by There There - Kazune Watanabe Wins Gold A' Design Award

A' Design Award Recognizes Interactive Brand Identity That Transforms Scanimation Into a Responsive Visual System

COMO, CO, ITALY, September 11, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ -- The A' Design Award has announced There There - Kazune Watanabe as a winner of the Gold A' Design Award in the category of Graphics, Illustration and Visual Communication Design for the work titled Designtide Tokyo 2024. This recognition celebrates a brand identity that revives a historic Tokyo design event through an inventive, physically interactive visual approach. The A' Design Award is a highly respected and internationally juried competition within the graphic design field, where entries are evaluated by an expert jury panel against pre-established criteria. The distinction confirms that Designtide Tokyo 2024 represents a notable example of considered design and meaningful contribution to visual communication.

The recognition holds relevance for the broader graphic design community, where the demand for engaging, sustainable, and memorable brand identities continues to grow. Designtide Tokyo 2024 demonstrates how a brand identity can foster genuine physical engagement without relying on digital screens or electronic components. In a period shaped by social media and individual presentation, the work offers an alternative model that values tangible interaction and shared experience. For practitioners and clients alike, it illustrates how established techniques can be refined to meet contemporary expectations. The approach aligns with industry interest in sustainability, material reuse, and human-centered design.

Designtide Tokyo 2024 employs scanimation, also known as slit animation, where movement appears only when viewers change position, distance, or slide across the surface. This behavior reflects the motion of tides, echoing the event name and its concept of generating a major movement in design from the ground up. By carefully refining slit pitch and base imagery, There There - Kazune Watanabe expanded a simple technique into a complex, responsive visual system that encourages physical participation. Materials include wood, acrylic, fabric, and paper, with acrylic used at the venue later reused. Held in November 2024 in Tokyo, the event welcomed more than six thousand visitors.

The Gold A' Design Award recognition may serve as encouragement for There There - Kazune Watanabe to continue exploring interactive and material-conscious design solutions. The distinction can inspire further investigation into techniques that bridge analog craft and responsive experience, supporting future projects that prioritize engagement and sustainability. As a benchmark of considered practice, the recognition motivates the studio and the wider field to pursue thoughtful innovation in visual communication.

Interested parties may learn more about the award-winning design, view its details, and explore the work of its creators at the dedicated page provided by the A' Design Award.
https://competition.adesignaward.com/ada-winner-design.php?ID=174524

About There There - Kazune Watanabe
Kazune Watanabe is the founder and art director of There There Ltd. After graduating from the Kuwasawa Design School in 2005, he gained valuable experience working at Kudo Tsuyokatsu Design Laboratory and Soup Design Ltd., now known as Bootleg Ltd. In April 2018, Mr. Watanabe began an independent venture, founding There There, which was later incorporated in March 2022. Based in Japan, the studio focuses on thoughtful visual communication and brand identity design.

About Designtide Tokyo Committee
Designtide Tokyo is an event that reexamines the role of design in contemporary society and seeks to generate new tides in design. Held every autumn from 2005 to 2012, it served as a platform for presenting the design scene of Tokyo to the world. The event introduced many internationally recognized designers and contributed significantly to the development of Japanese design culture. Each year, approximately fifty 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 the Gold A' Design Award Recognition
The Gold A' Design Award is granted to designs that demonstrate a high level of innovation and a notable impact on their intended audience. Within the Graphics, Illustration and Visual Communication Design category, entries are evaluated through a rigorous process against criteria including innovative concept, visual impact, effective communication, technical excellence, aesthetic appeal, originality, strategic approach, consistency in theme, cultural relevance, sustainability consideration, user experience enhancement, typography mastery, color scheme effectiveness, and attention to detail. Recognized as a significant achievement by the A' Design Award, these designs reflect a visionary approach and the considered skill of their creators. Gold A' Design Award recipients are noted for advancing the boundaries of art, science, design, and technology while delivering solutions that meet and exceed expectations. Such designs serve as reference points for excellence, encouraging further innovation and inspiring future generations of designers.

About A' Design Award
The A' Graphics, Illustration and Visual Communication Design Award is an esteemed competition that invites a range of participants, including graphic designers, design agencies, companies, brands, and influential figures from the graphic design and visual communication industries. Through a blind peer-review process, entries are voted on against pre-established evaluation criteria by a world-class jury panel of design professionals, industry experts, journalists, academics, and practitioners. The ultimate aim of the A' Design Award is to recognize and promote superior products and projects that advance and benefit society, guided by a philanthropic mission to enhance the world through the power of good design. Organized since 2008 and now in its eighteenth year, the A' Design Award is an international, juried competition open to entries from all countries and across all industries, celebrating remarkable achievements on an international stage. Interested parties may learn more about the A' Design Award, explore jury members, view past laureates, and take part with their projects at the following url: https://graphicdesignawards.org

Makpal Bayetova
A' DESIGN AWARD & COMPETITION SRL
+39 031 497 2900
email us here