CDN and Opel/Vauxhall launch Interactive Design Competition

Opel/Vauxhall today asks students: "What do you think is our lounge style?" as part of a new, interactive design competition being launched with Car Design News.

The competition is for students studying at design schools (of any discipline) in Europe, and will be in two stages: Stage 1 is the interior, and then Stage 2 the exterior. It culminates in a display of the work of the finalists and announcement of the two winners at the Geneva Motor Show in March 2011.

Stage 1: The brief — a lounge in motion

Student designers in Europe are being asked to create a car interior that is also a lounge, in other words, a lounge in motion. The car interior should fit the Opel/Vauxhall brand and accentuate both the emotional and rational aspect of the brand and its design language, sculptural artisty meets German precision.

Opel/Vauxhall considers a lounge to be:

The challenge is not only to create a design, but also to provide a clear explanation of the thinking behind it, where your inspiration came from, who you are targeting and why you believe this is the direction to take. Great designs always start with a vision.

Liz Wetzel, Director of Interior Design, Opel/Vauxhall, conceived the project and will be one of the judges. "What I'm excited about is for students to understand our brand," she says, "because it is moving — it's becoming much more dynamic, much more passionate and our clear vision can be  seen in our recent products on both the interior and the exterior execution."

"What we're looking for is not just for them to design, but to come up with an experience."

The competition

Both Opel/Vauxhall and the Car Design News team feel that digital tools and the online community could play a part in car design in future.  Which is why, if you're based in Europe, we're asking you to participate in what we believe is the first fully interactive online design competition from a major automotive manufacturer.

The competition will be hosted on its own website. To submit work and to comment on the work of others you will be invited to register. But anyone will be able to view the entries and the comments on them.

Interactivity will form a key part in the development of your designs. We encourage you to upload your ideas as you go along, and to comment on those of other entrants, since the judging process will take into consideration design development and community participation of members. The earlier you submit, the more feedback you will get and the more rounded will be your entry. To encourage you to get going quickly, we're offering six-month subscriptions to Car Design News for the first ten entries, and a full year's subscription for the person judged to have made the most contribution to the online community and interactivity of the competition.

Judges from Opel/Vauxhall, CDN and other senior designers will also be commenting on the designs at regular stages during the competition, and their feedback will appear on the site. So this is your chance to get feedback from design professionals.

Your entry and competition timescale

We encourage you to register and download the brief straight away. We'll then notify you in two weeks when you can start to upload your entry. When entries open you'll be able to upload research imagery and mood boards, sketches, renderings, CAD models and videos — whatever you feel best represents your vision. In their initial reviews the judges will be looking to give you feedback on your story/mood boards, your target customer, and to comment on the exploration of your design theme.

You'll have the opportunity to amend and re-submit as many times as you like, and the website will retain your work after each new submission so that everyone can see how your design has evolved.

The competition closes on December 10, 2010 and the latest version of your work on the website becomes your entry. The judges will choose their top three as finalists, and announce them.

These three then become the basis of the brief for the second stage of the competition, in which everyone in Europe is again invited to participate.

Final judging and prizes

The top three entries will be invited to work in CAD software (support will be given!) with one of the competition partners to develop a final motion graphic of their lounge. These designs will be judged to select the single winner of this interiors stage. The videos of the three finalists and the announcement of the winner will be at the 2011 Geneva motor show.

The winning designer will secure a paid internship in Opel/Vauxhall's design studios in Rüsselsheim, Germany.

See the competition site www.cardesigncontest.com for more details and to register.

And good luck!

The competition is a collaboration between Opel/Vauxhall and Car Design News, to use social media and web-based tools to help develop car designs. The competition is supported by our partners, Dassault Systèmes and Dinamica by Miko

By Joe Simpson