April 4, 2025 | News & Notices Science Art “WONDER POWDER” and the Original Font “Shimadzu Genso Sans” Win the Internationally Recognized iF Design Award 2025
The Shimadzu Science Art “WONDER POWDER” and Shimadzu Genso Sans, a custom brand font developed by Shimadzu (China) Co., Ltd. have won the iF Design Award 2025 in the Interior Architecture category (Trade Fairs/Exhibitions sub-category) and the Communication category (Typography/Signage sub-category), respectively. The iF Design Award is the world’s longest-standing international design award. iF International Forum Design, based in Hannover, Germany, selects outstanding designs every year. This year, about 11,000 design applications gathered from 66 countries and regions were evaluated by 131 design experts on the 5 criteria of idea, formative beauty, functionality, individuality, and sustainability.
Science Art “WONDER POWDER”
This exhibition, part of a hands-on art exhibit, was the result of research initiated in April 2022 by Shimadzu and the we+ design studio. Various powdered materials fall through water-filled acrylic cases. The cases can be freely rotated by visitors to the exhibit, and differences in the size, weight, and shape of the powders lead to changes in the sedimentation rate, creating beautiful gradations. The powder elements and the distribution and shape of the particles are investigated with Shimadzu products, and the exhibit attempts to impress on visitors the appeal of analytical and measuring technology by posting sheets with the analysis results next to the cases. It was exhibited at the world’s largest scale design festival, Milano Design Week 2024.
Shimadzu Genso Sans Custom Brand Font
Shimadzu (China) Co., Ltd. designed this font around the concept of The Beauty of Health, as a way of Realizing Our Wishes for the Well-being of Mankind and the Earth, Shimadzu’s management principle. Features of the handwriting of Genzo Shimadzu Junior were abstracted from a handwritten description of an X-ray radiography system that he created. They were used to fashion a minimal design fusing the warmth of a handwritten font with natural curved lines. The result is a universal design that is easy to read when digitized on tablets and smartphones, and takes into consideration people with disabilities. This custom font is compatible with the Latin alphabet, which is used in 35 languages, as well as Hebrew characters.
Related Information
iF Design Award 2025
iF Design Award “WONDER POWDER”