Every year since 1957 in Japan the Good Design Award gives a nod to the best products designs on the market. Currently organized by the Japan Institute of Design Promotion, it attracts approximately 3,000 submissions from 1,000 companies every year.
Between the awards there's the "Long Life Design Award," which is given to products that have been loved and supported by their users for many years, and that have played an important part in our everyday lives to the present day.
The 28 nominees for this year's Long Life Design Award have been just announced, and Sony's iconic controller is part of the bunch.
The nomination stresses on the the longevity of the design that appeared in its first iteration in 1994, keeping intact its identity and most iconic parts like the shape of the grips and the △ ○ × □ buttons, implementing revolutionary features like the touch pad at the same time, and creating an intuitive and superior controller that well represents the industry.
The DualShock has to compete against a list of candidates that includes some extremely prestigious names that you'll recognize for sure:
- Scotch tape
- Cemedine C Glue
- Pritt Glue Stick
- Pentel Tradio Pulaman Fountain Pen
- Pentel Brush Pen
- Pilot Waterboard Marker
- Gekkoso aluminium watercolor palette
- Fueru Album
- Student Notebook
- Sekonic Studio Deluxe III L-398A light meter
- Seiko PROSPEX Stopwatch
- Nikon 8x20HG L DCF / 10x25HG L DCF binoculars
- Sony MDR-CD900ST Headphopnes
- Yamaha Clavinova CVP Series piano
- Coleman 54 Quart stainless steel cooler
- Cherry Terrace Bamix
- Kimura glasses
- Muji Body-fitting sofa
- Aishi LUSH chair
- Toyo TWR-2 tray
- Daikin FHCXP80AM air conditioner
- Toko Ester Curtain
- Toyota L & F GENEO forklift
- Midori Anzen safety shoes
- Midori Anzen SC-11 series safety helmet
- 12 pieces Morinaga Milk Caramel
- Calorie Mate
The winner will be selected by the awards' jury and announced in a ceremony at the Shibuya Hikarie skyscraper in Tokyo on October 31st.
If you want to support the DualShock (or whatever product you happen to prefer. I have to admit that I'm quite fond of the Pritt stick myself), you can "like" them via Facebook on this page until August 20th, but that just a way to cheer on your favorites and won't have any actual influence on the final award.