Prestigious German Design Award "Upcycling Guitar" Concept Models and "e-plegona" Selected for Design Concept Discipline of Red Dot Award

Yamaha Corporation announces that two of its designs were selected to receive the Red Dot Award: Design Concept 2024: namely, the "Upcycling Guitar" electric guitar concept models, and the "e-plegona" experiential installation, which was developed in collaboration with Yamaha Motor Co., Ltd.

The Red Dot Design Award is a German design award hosted by the Design Zentrum Nordrhein Westfalen that is highly respected around the world and comprises three categories: Product Design, Brands & Communication Design, and Design Concept.

Three Yamaha products were already selected for the Product Design discipline*1 earlier this year.

The Design Concept discipline was established to celebrate new design concepts and innovations, the precursors of tomorrow's great products, from varying stages of development. These new wins bring Yamaha's total number of Design Concept awards to three, following the 2017 selection of the &Y01 electrically power-assisted wheelchair that performs music, also designed in collaboration with Yamaha Motor.

"Upcycling Guitar" Concept Models

Concept model electric guitars designed as part of a project that seeks to create new instruments by upcycling*2 unused materials*3 left over from musical instrument manufacturing processes, imbuing the materials with new value and restoring their appeal. The Model "Marimba" is made from rosewood, used for marimba tone bars, and the Model "Piano" is made from unused piano materials, such as spruce, birch, and maple. Both musical instruments take full advantage of the characteristics of the wood used.

https://www.yamaha.com/ja/tech-design/research/news/23_upcyclingguitar/ (only in Japanese)

"e-plegona" Installation

The "e-plegona" is an installation created by the design departments of Yamaha and Yamaha Motor, in collaboration with research partner Dr. Mark Changizi and the Shinsuke Shimojo Laboratory at the California Institute of Technology, based on their research into Kando experiences, which involve simultaneous feelings of deep satisfaction and intense excitement.

The installation has two people experience it at the same time, with players repeatedly communicating to each other through non-verbal and intuitive means.

Based on the results of our unique research combining science and art, conducted together with our research partners, this experimental prototype artificially stirs the emotions with non-verbal, intuitive communication to produce a connected vibe between people, like that felt during jazz improvisation—or the same sense of connection people often feel toward musical instruments or motorcycles—in order to simulate experiences of Kando.

In 2023, the installation was jointly exhibited at the South by Southwest 2023 festival for cutting-edge technologies in Austin, Texas, USA, and also at hub.berlin, one of Europe's foremost technology events, and the Tech Open Air Festival, a technology conference focused on innovation, both in Berlin, Germany.