CDN-GM Interactive Design Competition - interior phase finalists announced

July 19 saw the CDN-GM competition judging and mentoring teams meet at GM's world HQ in Warren, Michigan, to cast judgment over the 99 entries to the interior phase of the competition. The competition asked design students to develop concepts in response to briefs set by each of GM's four brands – Chevrolet, Cadillac, GMC and Buick.

The judges nominated three finalists for each brand, who will be invited to attend the 2012 NAIAS in Detroit. Here a winner for each brand will be chosen, and receive the prize of a paid internship at GM Design.

The judges – namely Clay Dean and Dave Lyon of GM Design, Anne Asensio and Dre Clemons of Dassault Systemes, Olivier Boinais of Faurecia and Joe Simpson of Car Design News – were highly impressed with much of the work.

Their choices represent not just the students who created the best, slickest presentations, but who entered into the spirit of the competition by uploading early and developing their work in response to comments. Those who pushed the boundaries of interior design innovation, questioned the brief, and whose design showed the greatest level of promise – rather than the greatest level of completeness – were the entries selected as finalists.

The nominated finalists for each brand are:

Buick; Hakan Demir, of the College of Creative Studies (Demir). Michael McGee, of the College of Creative Studies (MMcGee). Timothy Mann, of the College of Creative Studies (TMann) and Min Woo Song, of the College of Creative Studies (Dopdop222).

Cadillac; Brandon Promersberger, of the Cleveland Institute of Art (bpromersberger), Tyler Bame, of the Lawrence Technological University (Tyler B) and Vitaliy Pankov of the Florida Gulf Coast Community College (VitaliyPankov).

Chevrolet; Kim DaeShik, of the College of Creative Studies (Project76), Yuxin Wang, of the College of Creative Studies (Jonny Yuxin Wang) and Patrick Vanderpool, of the Academy of Art University (POVCar Designs).

GMC; Tianye Wang, of the College of Creative Studies (Mike), TJ Edmison, of the College of Creative Studies (TJE) and Brook Banham, of the College of Creative Studies (Brook Banham).

Buick
Four students were put through, because it was evident that each had different strengths, with no clear three emerging above the rest. Both Dave Lyon and Anne Asensio commented on the elegant, nostalgic sketch style of Dopdop222's entry. The overall style was appreciated by all of the judges, with Dave Lyon summing it up by saying: "It's just great".

Demir's entry was also admired, particularly for the attention to color and trim – one aspect the judges were surprised many students had neglected, given this was an interior competition.

Tmann's entry stood out for different reasons. "He actually dived into thinking about what was happening and how it would work," remarked Dre Clemons, with Anne Asensio adding "He was clearly trying to look at innovative ideas." Dave Lyon summed up: "It goes beyond the pretty sketch".

Completing the four Buick finalists was MMcGee, the very first entrant to the competition, proving the value of beginning to upload early and showing you can respond to direction. Clay Dean was impressed by the use of color and trim, and the clear inspiration that came from the spa environment that featured in MMcGee's early mood boards.

Cadillac
Bpromersberger's entry was the first to catch the eye of the judges, and although Dave Lyon suggested the aesthetic was on the harsh side for Cadillac, he felt the overall graphic and layout of the presentation was great. Olivier Boinais of Faurecia concurred, remarking on how much he liked the presentation. Meanwhile, finalist Tyler B's entry caught the eye of Clay Dean, particularly the "neat" IP.

Continues →

By CDN Team