Here are messages from Tsunehisa Morisawa, a president of Morisawa Bunken Inc., and Masahiko Kozuka, the emeritus jury.
Masahiko Kozuka
“A hand-written line has a beginning and an end, which doesn’t apply in a geometrically sense though”. This is the words of Adrian Frutiger. I would like the designs to be something that make them look like fonts regardless of the shapes from which the ideas are gotten and also to be something that make you feel as if you can “hear” the beautiful Japanese words by just seeing the fonts when they function as a typeface. The explanation is bit too abstract; however my point is that I would like to see the works that convey the feelings of creators. It has remained unchanged even today when media is changing. Especially, I look forward to seeing the works that convey youth and vitality.
Tsunehisa Morisawa
At present, many typefaces exist in the world. Therefore, it may be difficult to create new typefaces.
However, there is still plenty of room for adding a new twist to traditional fonts. I felt that fewer works of traditional fonts were submitted for the Type Design Competition 2012, thus I have great expectations for them this time.
At the same time, I am looking to see entries of unique and innovative fonts. It is not easy to ensure the function of each text while maintaining uniqueness; however, I expect to see various powerful typefaces for the future.
I sincerely look forward to seeing passionate works that influence both users and creators.
What is Akashi Award?
At Akashi Award, entry works are to be judged for typeface designs appropriate for commercialization by Morisawa Inc. The name of Akashi Award is from Akashi City (Hyogo Pref.) which is the address of Morisawa Bunken Inc. that is assuming a large role in creating Morisawa Fonts.
All judges of Kanji and Latin category will choose nominees for Akashi Award.