Seiko Epson has been awarded the prestigious honorary title ‘Red Dot: Design Team of the Year’ for 2026 at the internationally renowned Red Dot Design Award competition organized by Design Zentrum Nordrhein Westfalen in Germany.
This award is used to recognize a design team that has proved itself through its consistently innovative, top-class design achievements and has set the highest standards of design quality. Epson is only the second Japanese company to receive this honor since the award was first presented in 2000. The award ceremony is scheduled to take place in Essen, Germany, in July 2026.
Across its diverse business segments — including Precision Innovation, Industrial & Robotics, Office & Home Printing, and Visual & Lifestyle — Epson has consistently demonstrated a high level of technological innovation under a coherent and unified design strategy.
Epson has developed a broad product portfolio characterized by clear, harmonious design and user-centric design, a strength that was praised by the jury.
In addition, Epson has garnered recognition over many years in the “Red Dot Award: Product Design” category by showcasing outstanding designs and innovation across multiple generations of products. Ultimately, Epson was honored with the title “Red Dot: Design Team of the Year 2026” for having firmly embedded design within its corporate activities, delivering globally competitive products based on a consistent design philosophy, and demonstrating a sustained commitment to design excellence.
“With exceptional clarity and consistency, Epson has created a remarkably broad portfolio and translates technological innovation with great assurance into accessible, human-centred solutions – precise and carefully composed in their expression. The design approach is defined by a strong sense of harmony – between form and function and between technological precision and user experience. Driven by a strategically embedded design culture, this results in internationally successful products with a clear identity. The title ‘Red Dot: Design Team of the Year 2026’ recognises this outstanding achievement. Congratulations to the whole team,” Red Dot founder and CEO, Peter Zec said.
Hideki Kato, general manager of the P Design Department, and Takayoshi Ishikawa, general manager of the VP Design Department, said, “We see this award as recognition not of individual products, but of the collective efforts of Epson’s design organization as a whole. It reflects both a daily commitment within each business area and a collaborative mindset cultivated across departments. This recognition is greatly encouraging for everyone involved.”
“At the same time, we view this award not as an end point but rather as an expectation that we will continue to create new value. We will remain committed to transforming the value of technology into meaningful experiences for people and society, and to creating value in a way that is true to Epson.”
Epson’s designs are grounded in a “Sho-Sho-Sei” design philosophy – an approach that emphasizes efficient, compact, and precise innovation. Guided by this philosophy, Epson seeks to realize value in ways that are more efficient, more compact, and more precise, transforming technology not merely into functional performance but into user experiences that are intuitive and products that are easy to use and designed for long-term utility.
This design philosophy is shared across design activities rooted in each business domain, with Epson’s design organization collaborating across disciplines while leveraging specialized expertise. Through this approach, Epson achieves both domain-specific excellence and a strong sense of unity as a company, enabling the continuous creation of value.
The Red Dot Design Award, established in 1955, is one of the world’s most prestigious design awards. As part of the Red Dot Award: Product Design, the honorary title “Red Dot: Design Team of the Year” has been awarded annually to only one design team since 1988.
It recognizes design teams that demonstrate outstanding innovation, creativity, and superior design quality, with particular emphasis on comprehensive design achievements realized through exceptional teamwork.
