Yuko Takagi finds her greatest satisfaction when complexity gives way to clarity. "I'm most excited when a complex challenge becomes a clear, meaningful design solution," she says. "Seeing that idea improve sales or resonate with consumers is incredibly rewarding."

Yuko works as a Design Manager at a FMCG (fast-moving consumer goods) where high-stakes design decisions ripple out at massive scale. "Small decisions can impact millions," she notes, "so finding simple, human-centered clarity in the process is what drives me."

Based in Tokyo, Yuko specializes in brand development, package design, and visual identity—bringing brands to life through clear and creative ideas. With over a decade of experience across both client and agency environments, she's delivered award-winning design solutions for global and local brands. Her work spans branding, packaging, structural design, and visual identity systems, earning recognition from the Pentawards, The Dieline Awards, and the A' Design Award.

The Erosion of Originality

Yet Yuko sees troubling patterns emerging in contemporary design practice. "I'm concerned that originality is being lost," she says directly. "Trends and AI tools make it easy to create visually loud but conceptually thin work, leading to designs that all look similar."

Her concern centers on the gap between surface appeal and substantive thinking. When tools lower the barrier to producing polished visuals, the risk is that design becomes untethered from the problem-solving and intentionality that give it meaning. "Good design should stay rooted in intention and real problem-solving," Yuko emphasizes.

Show Your Thinking

As jury captain for the Packaging category in the 2026 Core77 Design Awards, Yuko will be looking beyond aesthetic execution to the reasoning that shaped it. Her advice to entrants focuses on articulation and context.

"Clearly explain why your design matters," Yuko says. "Strong entries show the thinking behind the work—the insight, constraints, and decisions that led to the solution."

It's not enough to present the final package. Yuko wants to understand the path that led there—what insights drove the concept, what constraints shaped the form, what decisions distinguished this solution from other possible approaches. "A clear purpose makes a project far more memorable and convincing," she concludes.

For designers entering the Packaging category, the challenge is dual: create work that transforms complexity into clarity, then clearly communicate how and why that transformation happened.

2025 Winner

Winning the Professional category is an innovative packaging plan Google Plastic-Free Packaging, by Roman Ley at Google. Google's packaging for all hardware products, including Pixel, Nest, and Fitbit, is now 100% plastic-free, fully recyclable, and features innovative materials like custom-developed paper and molded fiber.

If you have a forward-thinking idea that could spark a fire with our jurors, share it with us through the 2026 Core77 Design Awards.

The final deadline to enter is March 28. Don't miss out - enter now!