Press Release
Yu Hiraoka Is Honored with the Silver A' Design Award for GrandWizard DJ Smartphone in Digital and Electronic Device Design
Yu Hiraoka acknowledged for digital and electronic device design by the international grand jury of the 2015 - 2016 A' Design Award & Competition
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
COMO, Italy, April 22, 2016 /DesignNewswire/ A' Design Award & Competition has confirmed the Silver A' Design Award in the Digital and Electronic Device Design category for GrandWizard DJ Smartphone by Yu Hiraoka, designed for Yu Hiraoka Design. The award was conferred within the 2015 - 2016 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.
What the Silver A' Design Award Means
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.
About GrandWizard DJ Smartphone
GrandWizard smartphone surpasses the MP3 technology of other phones, turning the user into a real life DJ. The portable mixing station makes it possible to manipulate and produce remixes using intuitive right and left controls, each dedicated to a track. It enables you to make your own remixes anywhere and anytime you’re inspired.
About Yu Hiraoka
Yu Hiraoka is a Japanese product and interior designer based in Turin, Italy. Born in 1988, he studied design in Japan, the United Kingdom, and Italy, developing an international perspective through different educational and cultural environments. After beginning his professional career in 2013 and working with design studios in Milan, he established his independent design practice in 2018. His work has received several international design awards, and in 2026 he served as a juror for the A’ Design Award & Competition. He collaborates with clients internationally across product, furniture, interior, and exhibition design projects.
Award Record
With this recognition, Yu Hiraoka is a winner of 6 A' Design Awards. The awards span the editions from 2014 - 2015 to 2015 - 2016 of the A' Design Award & Competition.
About the A' Digital and Electronic Device Design Award
The A' Consumer Electronics Design Award is an international design competition recognizing good consumer electronics designs by leading brands worldwide. The competition is organized within the A' Design Award & Competition and is open to consumer electronics designers, consumer electronics brands, consumer electronics manufacturers and electronic product manufacturers from all countries. Entries typically include smartphones, laptops, televisions, cameras, headphones and smartwatches. Awarded consumer electronics designs are published at https://dezigners.org/design-category/consumer-electronics
About A' Design Award & Competition
A' Design Award & Competition is an international, juried design accolade organized annually since 2008. The competition is open to entries from all countries. The A' Design Award has a philanthropic mission 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. Entries are peer reviewed and anonymously evaluated 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. The A' Design Prize granted to eligible laureates 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, the upload of a work and the 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. Further information is available at https://competition.adesignaward.com
Press Resources
- Winner Page: https://dezigners.org/38833
- A' Design Award Page: https://competition.adesignaward.com/38833
- Media Showcase: https://www.designnewsroom.com/!38833
- Laureate Profile: https://dezigners.org/d/131793
- Further Information from the Laureate: http://yuhiraoka.wix.com/yuhiraoka
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
- GrandWizard DJ Smartphone
- Function
- DJ Smartphone
- Category
- Digital and Electronic Device Design
- Discipline
- Industrial Design
- Industry
- Electronics & Appliances
- Colors
- White, Peach Puff, Burly Wood, Black and Gray
- Images
- 5
- Client
- Yu Hiraoka Design
The Recognition
- Laureate
- Yu Hiraoka
- Country
- Italy
- Recognition
- Silver A' Design Award
- Edition
- 2015 - 2016
- Design ID
- #38833
Credits
- Image Credits
- Yu Hiraoka Design
Design Details
- Unique Properties
- GrandWizard smartphone goes beyond the MP3 playing functionality of other phones, turning the user into a real life mixmaster DJ! Sure, there’s an app for that… but this is way more fun! The portable mixing station makes it possible to manipulate and produce remixes using intuitive right and left controls, each dedicated to a track. Make your own remixes while you’re on the go or at any time you’re inspired! Bring it to a club or a party, or anywhere and play the remixes.
- Inspiration
- Smartphones have taken the cell phone industry by storm. Coming packed with apps and features that make things seem just a touch away, it’s becoming an integral part of our life with each passing day. All these gadgets come packed with a great music player and speaker options, and many users enjoy listening tracks with them when they are out. And now there are even djing apps for music lovers to play remixes. But there was one question which came to my mind. Do those apps really satisfy authentic DJs? I have many DJ friends and they are all heavy smartphone users, but none of them play any of those djing apps even though they love performing in front of people.
- Research
- In the beginning of the project, I did research about new smartphone concepts and smartphone technologies for music.
- Challenge
- The trend of digital devices is less physical switches, and more utilisation of touch panel. However, these things make users feel less dynamism of utilisation. In order to realise more authentic djing performance, I designed the interface and layout based on a real dj turntable, but the interface is not as complicated as a dj turntable and they are very interactive with click wheels and touch panels. Since a dj set consists of three components and each of them has different function, I also designed this device which has three different components and three different main screens.
- Operation and Interaction
- Click wheels can be used for mixing, while the screens on the side will lay out tracks for you to edit. There’s also the touch panel at the bottom that can bring an equalizer. This is basically a portable mixing station and if you slide the fader to the left you will manipulate one track on the left screen and doing that on the right will take your music making to the right side. And, the middle screen is where the magic of remixing happens. GrandWizard is a great item for people who want to show off their expressions and stand out! Even though the shape specialises in djing, it still is fully functional as a smartphone with touch panels on the upper body.
- Project Duration and Location
- This work was developed in Milan in 2013.
- Specifications
- Size: (close) 165 x 60 x H16 mm / (open) 165 x 115 x H16 mm
- Keywords
- Smartphone, Dj, Music, Sound, Contemporary, High tec
