Background

The Hoshi Awards are named after the popular Japanese science fiction writer Shinichi Hoshi, and are presented to authors whose work combines literary excellence with a high degree of scientific imagination, and that thereby stimulate the advancement of science. The awards are also notable for the fact that works written by artificial intelligence are also eligible for entry.

Describe the creative idea (40% of vote)

Our creative idea was to use “creative filtration devices” as a design motif. The motif reflects the fact that people are always curious about different things, and that individuals filter the ideas they encounter according to their own creative sensibility. In a world where everything is out there, what do we look for, what do we want to know, and what themes resonate with each of us? With our design, we gave visual form to the myriad ways in which people process ideas and sensory input.

Describe the execution (40% of vote)

Our design uses geometric icons to represent ideas, and illustrations of “creative filters” to represent the way authors filter ideas to create stories. For the book of collected stories, we printed the icons on all sides—even on the page edges—to create the image of a solid mass of variegated ideas. Each of the works inside is fronted by a two-page illustration evoking the author’s creative process, and the cover jacket unfolds into a poster depicting a complex “creative filtration device.”

List the results (20% of vote)

The Japanese educational system tends to make a rigid distinction between the humanities and science. As a result, many people feel that science fiction is not a legitimate literary genre, and that it is generally of little value. Our design worked to overcome this stereotype, successfully stimulating greater public interest in the Hoshi Awards and attracting a total of 2,339 entries, which was 461 more than the previous year’s contest.