Good Design Award 2025: Stationery Winners & ZenPop Picks
Introduction: What is the Good Design Award?
Japan’s Good Design Award—often called the “G Mark”—honors products that make everyday life better through thoughtful, human-centered design. From tools you reach for without thinking to objects that quietly brighten your routine, the award celebrates function, beauty, and care in equal measure. If you’d like to explore the award’s philosophy and categories, the official site offers a calm, comprehensive overview.
This year’s winners include a delightful range of stationery and desk-side tools—pieces that open smoothly, erase cleanly, glide across paper, or simply make work and study feel lighter. Below, we’ve gathered the stationery-related highlights in one place.
2025 Stationery-Related Winners (Full List)
KOKUYO — Research Lab Pen (Good Design Best 100)
Selected among the Good Design Best 100, KOKUYO’s Research Lab Pen was developed from feedback by scientific researchers. Designed for laboratory use, it writes clearly even on wet, frozen, or condensation-covered surfaces, and resists fading when exposed to alcohol. The fine 0.6 mm tip allows precise labeling on small containers like microtubes—an outstanding example of design born directly from user insight.
KOKUYO — Gadget Pouch “BIZRACK” & Travel Pouch “BIZRACK”
Opens wide and stands on its own. A special core structure increases rebound so the mouth stays open, making it easy to see and access what’s inside. Two types—gadget and travel—are tailored to different carry needs.
KOKUYO — Campus “Erases Well Yet Hard to Break” Eraser
A cleverly designed eraser with a parallelogram cross-section for better grip and aim. It erases cleanly while resisting breakage—small detail, big difference. You can choose from two types: "rectangle" and "parallelogram." It fits according to how you hold it or the area you want to erase, so you can target and erase both wide surfaces and fine details.
LACONIC — Solid Light (Mechanical Pencil)
A minimalist mechanical pencil tuned for balance and comfort: grippy rubber coating, anti-roll hex ring, and satisfying weight for steady, elegant writing.
KOKUYO — WP (Fine Liner & Rollerball Series)
A writing series that lets your thoughts show in the line itself—line width can change with pressure (fine liner), while the rollerball’s ink reveals gentle shading. Great for planning phases that benefit from bold strokes and sketch-style thinking.
PILOT — KIRE-NA Highlighter
A dual-ended highlighter designed to draw straight, clean lines with quick-dry ink, helping students mark neatly without smudging notes or textbooks.
PILOT — Onamae Jozu (Oil-Based Name Marker)
An easier, smoother way to label fabrics and school supplies. The optimized tip reduces snagging on cloth, while the new ink minimizes bleed and fading—even on plastic and glass.
Raymay Fujii — Fude Board Marker “Brushey”
A liquid-ink brush-tip board marker for whiteboards and blackboards. Flexible tip captures strokes like tome/hane/harai (stops, flicks, and sweeps), ideal for menus and expressive lettering; wipes away with water.
Raymay Fujii — Kept “KIERA” (Erasable Line Marker)
A tidy study companion: erasable highlighting that doesn’t smear printed text or ballpoint ink, with minimal show-through—perfect for revisiting what truly matters.
Pentel — Art Crayon
Crayons made for grown-up expression: layer light over dark, blend like paint, and build depth that feels almost oil-paint rich. A gentle invitation to rediscover drawing.
MIDORI (Designphil) — Lens Ruler
A 15 cm ruler with an integrated magnifier (about 1.5×) and subtle guide lines that let you read one line of small text at a time—easier on the eyes, calmer on the mind.
RingLeaf — monoqlo Craft Notebook
A portable craft pad that opens flat and tears out cleanly. Cut, fold, and sketch wherever inspiration lands.
KOKUYO — Campus “Pen-Like Portable Book Clip”
Transforms from a slim, pen-shaped form into a sturdy book clip via rotating twin jaws—simple to carry, satisfying to use.
Nihon Label — “Kaseki Mikke” (Fossil-Finding Kit)
An educational set: blacklight, book, and stickers. Hide “fossils,” search by light, then place your discoveries back into the book—hands-on science that sparks conversation.
Shinkosha — SAWARIGAMI (Tactile-Print Origami)
Traditional origami meets special tactile printing. Texture adds new joy to folding and broadens who can enjoy paper craft.
KOKUYO — SAXA (Ambidextrous Scissors)
Blades are angled slightly relative to the handle so both right-handed and left-handed users can cut comfortably—one design, equal experience.
PLUS — Fitcut Curve Twiggy + Opening Cutter
Scissors and opener in one tool for all kinds of packages and materials. A built-in magnet lets you park it on a fridge or entry door for quick access.
PLUS — Multi-Function Cardboard Cutter “AKETORU”
Ceramic-blade opener with label-remover, magnet storage, and even a door-scope cover shape. Replaceable blades keep it going longer.
MIDORI (Designphil) — Box Cutter
Three jobs in one: open, resize, and break down boxes (plus milk cartons). The ceramic blade resists rust; magnet back for easy storage.
MAX — HD-10G (Heavy-Duty Stapler)
A robust, glove-friendly stapler designed for work sites and outdoor use—durable structure with an elastomer cover for grip and shock resistance.
YAMATO — “Tapiko” Paste
A new, squeezable take on Yamato paste: a soft bottle with a special perforated tip so even small hands can spread adhesive easily. Pastel blue body, classic yellow cap—nostalgic, but fresh.
Full list is available at Good Design Award homepage.
ZenPop Spotlights: Available in Our Store
Pentel Art Crayon
Designed for expressive, layered color with a soft, paint-like glide, Art Crayon turns quick sketches and journal accents into something richly textured. It’s easy to blend, satisfying to layer, and endlessly inviting for mindful doodles or full-blown illustrations, now available at ZenPop Stationery Store.
PILOT KIRE-NA Highlighter
Clean lines, quick-dry ink, and a tip that helps you guide straight strokes—KIRE-NA keeps notes tidy and textbooks smudge-free. If you love color-coding, this feels wonderfully precise and calm in hand, also available at ZenPop Stationery Store.
Closing
Awards like the Good Design Award remind us that good tools do more than “work.” They stand open when you need them to, erase without fuss, catch the light just right, and make writing or studying feel almost soothing. If one of these winners speaks to you, let it find a place in your routine. Small details, big comfort—that’s the quiet magic of stationery.
