Empowering emerging talent to create a better tomorrow through design
Lexus International has recently announced a call for entries for its distinguished Lexus Design Award 2023, an international design competition dedicated to empowering and encouraging the next generation of creators. Inaugurated in 2013, the award has given up-and-coming talents and innovators a global platform for exposure, discovery, and launch of countless impressive careers.
As the award continues to evolve, Lexus is aiming to enrich its platform for next-generation design talents by more broadly focusing on the creative growth of the individual. To achieve this goal, it embraces a new, streamlined form where four winners are now chosen to allow us to dive deeper into each winner’s story, while also fostering rich dialogue amongst them and the industry luminaries who serve as members of the jury. Mentorship remains core to the award, with winners being mentored by leading lights of the design world.
Lexus is seeking innovative ideas that contribute to a thriving and prosperous future for all through the power of design and technology. Applicants will explain how their creative concept puts into practice the Lexus brand’s three key principles: Anticipate, Innovate and Captivate. The design must anticipate global challenges to societies, envision inventive ways to reach a sustainable future, and seamlessly enhance the happiness of all. Lexus seeks engaging, insightful, and original designs that honor both form and function while offering actionable solutions to hasten the arrival of a brighter future for humanity in a variety of scenarios and situations.
Kei Fujita, Chief Representative, Middle East and Central Asia Representative Office, Toyota Motor Corporation, said: “We are extremely excited to launch the eleventh edition of the Lexus Design Award. We aim, through this international competition which is being held this year under the theme ‘Design for a Better Tomorrow,’ to support the next generation of designers and creators. The Lexus Design Award offers them a platform to explore their creativity, develop their unique design concepts through expert guidance and mentorship, and showcase their innovations to the world.”
Fujita added: “We look forward to revealing this year’s winners and seeing what they will present. I want to thank everyone involved in the Lexus Design Award for contributing to this valuable platform, as well as our loyal customers, whose continuous support inspires us all to reach beyond the conventional and create amazing experiences.”
A judging committee of elite, internationally recognized design experts will select four winners from among the entries based on the judging criteria. Winners will be mentored by leading creators in diverse design disciplines. Each winner will be allocated a research and development budget of up to JPY 3 million (over USD 22,500), as a design grant to cover not only prototype construction but also other relevant expenses involved in refining their concept and design and supporting the individual’s creative development. This once-in-a-lifetime mentoring experience is at the heart of the Lexus Design Award’s reputation for excellence. In the spring of 2023, the four winners will reveal their progress to judges and mentors by presenting their finished work for review.
After revealing their work, the award winners will have the priceless opportunity to consult one-on-one with the judging panel. In addition to receiving feedback on their work, the winners will get to share their visions and receive guidance on the career paths and aspirational goals that would best further their future creative success.
Mentors and judging committee members will be announced this fall.