Is this the first contest you’ve participated in?
No, I’ve sent my works to many competitions—product, graphic, logo design contests plus others. But I had never won.

Were you hoping to win this prize?
Of course. I hope to win every contest. I try to do my best every time.

Are you a prize hunter?
Usually it’s a part of the course I’m studying. Teachers assign us projects and we can send the works we’ve done to contests, too. When I saw my friends winning awards, I felt a push to work harder to be like them. It allows us to practice, doing a real job. If we win a prize, at least we have more credibility and it’s a chance to meet professional people in the design field. It’s also a guarantee that we can work when we send portfolios out applying for a job.

Why did you design it the way you did?
I thought about it for a while and realized that buying a wild animal for a pet is just short-term happiness. It’s true that people have the right to raise any pet they want, but thinking on behalf of the animals, they aren’t used to city life. Everyone wants to stay in one’s own home—wild animals, too. It might be cute when it is a baby, but when it grows, it might not be as cute as before. When it loses its cuteness or grows too fierce to be controlled, the owners usually leave it in a temple or something. I think we shouldn’t play with their lives like we play with a toy. It’s not a doll; it’s a life.

Did you spend a long time working on this piece?
In practice, it was just one night, but I spent a long time coming up with the concept and wording.

Why do you think your work was chosen?
I think the angle I took was quite simple, but it gets to the point and is direct. The picture is something unusual for this kind of campaign, too. It’s fresh.