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Press Release

DesignNewswire · COMO, Italy ·

Silver A' Design Award in Photography and Photo Manipulation Design Goes to Hand Still Participatory Art by Kenji Fujii

Kenji Fujii recognized for photography and photo manipulation design by the international grand jury of the 2021 - 2022 A' Design Award & Competition

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

COMO, Italy, April 22, 2022 /DesignNewswire/ A' Design Award & Competition has confirmed the Silver A' Design Award in the Photography and Photo Manipulation Design category for Hand Still Participatory Art by Kenji Fujii, designed for Keio University Graduate School. The award was conferred within the 2021 - 2022 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 evaluated anonymized entries against predetermined criteria.

About the Silver A' Design Award

The Silver A' Design Award celebrates top-tier designs that embody excellence and innovation. This award acknowledges creations that are not only aesthetically pleasing but also highly functional, reflecting the designer's deep understanding and skill. Silver A' Design Award recipients are recognized for their contribution to raising industry standards and advancing the practice of design. Their work often incorporates original innovations and elicits a strong emotional response, making a notable impact on the improvement of everyday life.

Regarding Hand Still Participatory Art

Hand Still is a participatory art project created to support well-being. Participants combine their hands and fingers to suggest a landscape or a creature, photograph the pose, give the image a title, and share the result on social networks with a common tag. Viewing the shared works and creating new ones is intended to increase creativity. Hand Still applies four factors linked to well-being: self-actualization and growth, connection and gratitude, a positive and optimistic outlook, and independence and self-identity.

Award Record

This recognition makes Kenji Fujii a winner of 3 A' Design Awards. The awards were granted between the 2019 - 2020 and the 2021 - 2022 editions of the A' Design Award & Competition.

About the A' Photography and Photo Manipulation Design Award

The A' Photography Design Award is an international photography competition recognizing good photographic creations by best photographers worldwide. It is organized within the A' Design Award & Competition and is open to photographers, photojournalists, advertising agencies and digital artists from all countries. Typical entries include portraits, landscapes, still lifes, photojournalism, fashion shots and architectural images. The awarded photography designs are published at https://dezigners.org/design-category/photography

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

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
Hand Still Participatory Art
Function
Participatory Art
Category
Photography and Photo Manipulation Design
Discipline
Communication Design
Industry
Arts and Entertainment
Colors
Black, Silver, Dark Slate Gray, Dim Gray and Gray
Images
5
Client
Keio University Graduate School

The Recognition

Laureate
Kenji Fujii
Country
Japan
Recognition
Silver A' Design Award
Edition
2021 - 2022
Design ID
#139199

Credits

Team
yotaro hirahara and mako sugiyama
Image Credits
Image #1~5: Photographer Yotaro Hirahara 2022

Design Details

Unique Properties
Hand Still is participatory art to improve well-being. Anyone around the world can participate by sharing their own hand-expressed artwork on social networking sites. By viewing and enjoying the artwork and creating your own artwork, you can improve your wellbeing. Hand Still includes the four factors for improving wellbeing (1: Self-Actualization and Growth, 2: Connection and Gratitude, 3: Positive and Optimistic, 4: Independence and Self-identity) are incorporated.
Inspiration
Well-being is now the focus of attention due to the changing values of humankind. As the era has progressed from economic growth to spiritual growth, the well-being industry is expected to grow. Against this background, "Hand Still" was born from a well-being management class at Keio University Graduate School (SDM) in Japan. Well-being is expected to have various effects. For example, people who are well-being have a longer life expectancy of 10 years, higher productivity, and so on.
Research
Hand Still was born out of the Keio Graduate School's "Well-Being Management" program, a type of well-being research. The purpose was to create an unprecedented method of promoting well-being. This method was based on a survey of 82 people collected through social networking services. The results showed that 71% of the people who viewed the work were able to enhance their creativity. In addition, 15.5% of the respondents took the same action as the artwork.
Challenge
Research and activities related to well-being are said to be difficult to demonstrate their effectiveness. This is because the effects vary from person to person and it is difficult to conduct research over time. Considering these factors, the scope of this project is narrowed down to "the moment of encountering a work of art" as the target of research. We were able to show through the questionnaire that this approach had a certain effect.
Realization and Technology
Hand Still uses the "System Design Methodology for Intentionally Creating Well-being" lectured at Keio University Graduate School in Japan. It includes. The four factors that improve well-being, as presented by well-being researcher "Takashi Maeno," are incorporated. It also includes ways to enhance wellbeing by increasing creativity from the "Study on Beauty and Well-Being.
Operation and Interaction
How to participate in Hand Still 1.Imagine a landscape or creature by combining your hands and fingers. 2. Take a photograph of the imagined pose. 3.Think of a title for the photo. 4.Post the photo on SNS with the title and the tag "Hand Still. 5. View the works with the tag "Hand Still" to enhance your creativity.
Project Duration and Location
The project began in September 2021 and was presented on campus in January 2022; as of March 2022, the project is still active.
Specifications
Hand Still is a participatory art activity project utilizing SNS. The rule of the project is that users themselves take a picture of a hand or finger pose they have thought up, decide on a title for the work, and post it on a SNS. We hope to spread the activity and encourage participation rather than appreciation. We assume that the main platforms will be Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.
Keywords
Well-being, Participatory Art, finger, Social Network Service, Creativity, Happiness

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