Epson Wins Eight Good Design Awards for Printers and Projectors

Epson has won a 2021 Good Design Award for a total of eight products, including one colourimeter, five printers, and two projectors, with the SD-10 colourimeter selected for the Good Design Best 100. Good Design Awards are presented annually for designs that benefit and enrich our lives and society. Epson's 2021 design-winners are described below along with the judges' comments.

SD-10 Colorimeter

The SD-10 is a highly accurate, compact, and affordable colourimeter equipped with a MEMS Fabry-Perot tunable filter developed by Epson. You can use it to digitalize colour matching, a conventionally time-consuming part of printing done manually, and link it with a smartphone or cloud service to centrally manage colour information for smoother printing. Pocket-sized and portable, it allows you to measure colours anytime, anywhere.

Judge's comments

The ability to match colours objectively based on numerical output instead of human sensory perception promises great benefits in terms of colour matching accuracy and efficiency. The digitization of the last remaining analog part of the printing process should remove a bottleneck and enable rapid advances in efficiency. The fact that the product is reasonably priced thanks to sensor technology developed in-house and that the product fits neatly in the hand is also very appealing. The GUI is intuitive. It displays colours as numerical values and visualizes differences in colour differences with a dedicated application that was developed at the same time. Coordination with familiar colour samples such as PANTONE is also being considered, and it is not difficult to imagine its widespread use in the future.

EP-M553T Inkjet Printer

This EcoTank printer further enhances the environmental credentials of the EcoTank range. The printer is made from about 30%1 recycled plastic. By using recycled plastic material, Epson is reducing its use of virgin plastic and helping to close the resource loop. Coated board2 for packaging was replaced with labels to reduce paper use, cutting CO2 emissions by about 10%. Its simple look also makes it an attractive and more accessible product.

1 The percentage of the total plastic by weight. It was determined by calculating the weight of recycled plastic in each part based on the composition rate and then adding them up.
2 Coated board is thick paper that has been coated to improve printability. Coated paperboard is applied to all sides of a retail box.

Judge's comments

Ecological considerations go beyond just the use of ink tanks, extending to the materials and construction of the product and the packaging. The printer, which appears even sleeker than the previous model and easily blends in with any neat and elegant space, is easier to clean. On top of that, it has fewer parts on the exterior, increasing product strength, and is made using recycled plastic. Epson achieved its target of using at least 30% recycled material for the unit, yet the quality of the product's appearance is comparable to that of other current products. This product also earned high marks because, in addition to satisfying all the foregoing conditions, it comes with a flatbed scanner, which is an improvement over the simplified scanner in the previous model.

SC-T7750D and SC-P8550D Large-Format Inkjet Printers

These 44-inch LFPs are for CAD, photo, and POP applications. Epson kept the depth within 500 mm, making these printers ideal for printing and processing even in limited spaces, such as in the back of small shops. The sides and back are flat so that the units can be installed flush against walls. Moreover, their perfectly flat top and height make them useful as a worktable. The design is the same as that used for office printers so that they fit into their surroundings.

Judge's comments

These large-format, 6-colour pigment ink inkjet printers support B0+ paper and have an exceptionally well-thought-out, polished design. Epson not only considered usability but also where and how they would be installed. The sides and top are flat, and most operations can be performed from the front. With all sides flat except the front, the printers can fit perfectly flush against the wall on three sides. This feature is apparent in the appearance of the products themselves. These printers can be placed back-to-back in the middle of a room to create an island that can be used as a worktable, thanks to the perfectly flat top. Some other interesting design ideas have also been implemented, such as an LED that is provided inside a black peephole in the centre of the top so that you can see prints in progress.

SL-D1050 Commercial Photo Printer

This minilab printer is loaded with features required by professional photofinishing services. The box shape enables multiple units to fit neatly on shop counters. With a new duplex feeder, users can now perform double-sided cut printing in addition to roll paper printing as on the SL-D1050's predecessor. The use of ink packs increased the amount of available ink by 25%3 and reduced the amount of space needed to store used ink by about 55%.3

3 Compared to the ink cartridges used with the SL-D850 (SLIC3 < 200 ml >)

Judge's comments

The printer is designed such that limited space can be used efficiently. In the vertical direction, the operation panel is tilted back at an angle so that it can be operated even when objects are stacked on the unit. In the horizontal direction, meanwhile, all maintenance tasks can be performed from the front so that there is no need to access the sides. The use of high-capacity ink packs reduces both labour and waste. It is apparent that this product was designed based on careful research and analysis of the usage environment.

Monna Lisa ML-64000 Digital Textile Printer

This large textile printer meets high-brand quality needs. It can directly print on fabrics up to 3.6 m wide. The printer measures 2.4 m in height and 6 m in width and is designed to evoke architectural pillars and beams, giving it a more robust look. A large window in the centre allows you to view prints. This product will help shift the textile printing market from analog to digital and reduce the environmental impacts.

Judge's comments

Inkjet digital textile printing can reduce the amount of resources used in production, reduce production waste, and reduce the amount of energy and time used in transport by enabling small-scale local production. This product is a large, high-end model that gives an impression of robustness and reliability due to the use of architectural forms, including pillars, beams, and a large window for checking prints. It is designed to replace analog printing in mass production and to contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

SC-R5050 and SC-R5050L Resin Ink Printer

These resin-ink printers are for wallpaper and large sign production. This is the first printer in Epson's SureColor series to use resin ink, which is compatible with a wide variety of media. The high-capacity ink packs reduce maintenance time and, when empty, take up 90% less storage space than used cartridges4. A wide window and LED lighting allow users to quickly check prints, and a resin exterior is used for the parts operated by people for their safety.

4 When comparing an equal volume of ink from 700-ml SC10 ink cartridges for the SC-S80650, SC-S60650, and SC-S40650 and from the 1,500-ml SC22 ink packs for the SC-R5050 and SC-R5050L.

Judge's comments

This is a high-performance machine with a design that is well-organized. The large viewing window, which is in the centre of the dark tone body and can be illuminated by a light inside the printer, and the touch panel are inclined for both good visibility and operability. The quick-drying resin ink is water-based instead of organic solvent-based, and the high-capacity ink packs exhibit design excellence, offering high-level features, usability, and environmental performance. With the ability to alternate between two packs of the same colour, the ink packs can be hot-swapped without interrupting printing. They also generate 50% less waste than cartridges.

EH-LS300B and EH-LS300W Home Projectors

The EH-LS300 is a home projector equipped with an ultra-short throw lens. With a picture up to 120 inches, a Yamaha 2.1-channel speaker system that provides excellent sound quality, and integrated video content features, you can easily enjoy an immersive viewing experience simply by setting up the projector next to a wall. Epson designed this projector for use in a living room. The use of fabric to fit the texture of an interior space hints at the level of detail paid to the design.

Judge's comments

Here is an example of a home projector that is both elegantly styled and has great functional performance. The form of the device is quite minimal. Its simplicity belies the fact that this is a great short-throw projector that works to deliver a great image, large and clear under normal lighting conditions. The surfaces and textures are beautifully crafted, and the overall effect is a good, well-designed home product. To deliver good performance, this device is still relatively large, and it will be interesting to see in the future how the footprint or volume can be reduced to improve the design further.

EF-12 Home Projector

The EF-12 is an all-in-one projector equipped with high-quality sound speakers and Android TVTM. It is compact and lightweight yet delivers a rich and powerful video experience with images up to 150 inches and 2.0-channel speakers. These projectors go well with any room interior and are easy to carry, so you can easily watch videos anywhere there is Wi-Fi®.

Judge's comments

The projector is compact, with a design that is not overly assertive and can be carried with one hand. It can project images that are more than bright enough and reproduce rich sound. This product not only can project horizontally onto walls but vertically onto ceilings. Equipped with Android TVTM, it is designed to be used in a variety of situations. In the already mature projector market, I can appreciate the approach of trying to polish the design along conventional lines instead of trying to differentiate it with an unconventional form.