Meet the
YANKO DESIGN
AWARDS

UNDERSTANDING YD AWARDS

The Yanko Design Award recognizes innovative and inspirational designs that push the industry forward. Given out to designers, studios, and brands, the Yanko Design Award acts as a universal symbol that stands for creativity, sustainability, innovation, and user-friendliness.

YANKO DESIGN'S HISTORY

Founded in 2002, Yanko Design is one of the first generations of online design media, having covered the global design industry for 20 years. We pride ourselves in having an eye for design that’s truly agnostic of limitations and boundaries, focusing innovative and inspirational designs from young designers as well as industry veterans, across the globe.

JUDGING CRITERIA

The Yanko Design Award is presided over by a panel of seasoned industry and media personnel. The highly coveted award is only given out to select designs for their ability to capture minds, change lives, and leave behind a positive impact on users as well as the planet.

The Yanko Design Award approaches ‘good design’ and ‘problem solving’ from multiple angles.

Products that win the award must be functionally sound, have a form that evokes a positive emotional response (desirability, nostalgia, joy), and have a manufacturing process that considers longevity, repairability, and a cradle-to-grave approach. Products that win should push the industry and our humanity forward, with considerations towards having a business model that benefits the three stakeholders - maker, user, and nature.

OUR JUDGES PANEL

TAKASHI YAMADA

Takashi Yamada is the founder and publisher of Yanko Design, responsible for bringing the content and vision to publication. His past businesses included fine dining, web development, and retail design. Prior to Yanko Design, Takashi was a consultant in the multibillion-dollar luxury industry in Japan, with clients that included Louis Vuitton, Hermes, Bulgari, and various exclusive groups such as Richemont.

He currently focuses on his passion for modern industrial design and pushes a "design agency" to promote original ideas and talented undiscovered designers through Yanko Design. Takashi was born in Japan and raised in Canada.

PETER LYON

In a career spanning over 30 years, Peter Lyon has written about automobiles, innovation, games, luxury lifestyles, travel and food. Based in Tokyo since 1988, He has have hosted a globally broadcast TV show on Japan’s NHK World network called 'Samurai Wheels' and authored a book in Japanese about car culture.

Peter has written in the past for publications including Car and Driver, Edmunds, Top Gear, Autocar, Auto Express, Quattroruote, The Sydney Morning Herald, Herald Sun, Motor Magazine, Forbes, The Japan Times, GQ Japan, Newsweek Japan, Forbes Japan and Yahoo Japan. He was co-chairman of the World Car Awards from 2010-2020 and is currently a judge with the International Engine of the Year and hold a position as the only non-Japanese juror for the Japan Car of the Year.

SARANG SHETH

Sarang Sheth is the Co-Editor in Chief and Creative Director at Yanko Design. A former industrial designer, Sarang developed an appreciation for studying innovative and creative designs and brought those skills over to Yanko Design, where he’s dedicated to evangelizing good design and great ideas.

VINCENT NGUYEN

Vincent is the editor-at-large at Yanko Design. He started in pre-med biochemistry followed by 10-successful years in technology consulting for Andersen Consulting, Informix, IBM and DHL.

Before joining Yanko Design in 2022, he was the editor-in-chief of SlashGear for 15 years and has flown over 3-million miles, spanning more than 25-countries in the hunt for the next big thing. Vincent is a juror on The World Car Awards.

MATTHEW ASKARI

Los Angeles native Matthew Askari has written for more than 25 publications in print and web, spanning hardcore auto enthusiast, luxury and lifestyle, tech, travel, and green car genres. Incessantly curious about the world that surrounds us, Matthew has lived on four continents, stepped foot on six, and visited more than 60 countries.

Matthew's byline has appeared in a diverse range of publications such as Hemispheres, Autoblog, Luxury Magazine, Buzzfeed, Architectural Digest, Men's Health, Cool Hunting, and The Copenhagen Post, among others. Matthew is a juror on The World Car Awards.

LATEST WINNERS OF THE YANKO DESIGN AWARDS