Design Contest: Car Design Awards China

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Inspiring and developing the creative talent of China's students is the goal of the Car Design Awards China 2010, a competition launched by CDN. Now open for registration to design students based in China, the competition aims to further improve the quality of designs emerging from what will soon be the largest automotive market in the world.

Students are asked to work to briefs set by three automotive manufacturers - GM PATAC, PSA-Peugeot/Citroen and Volkswagen - with the entries judged by a panel of design directors from both international and domestic OEMs. Prizes will be awarded at a ceremony in Beijing on the evening of April 21, just prior to the opening of Auto China 2010.

The winners in the competition will not only receive prizes in several categories - including placements at a prominent UK design school - but are also expected to see a sharp improvement in their employment prospects in a market where the C-Factor, that elusive mix of modern design and Chinese heritage, is sought by both international and domestic OEMs.

The briefs set for the competition are an intriguing mix of the luxurious and the workaday, reflecting the deepening development of China's car market. Peugeot/Citroen wants to see an electrically-propelled luxury four-door sports sedan ‘for the driving enthusiast'; an environmentally-friendly vehicle equally suited to daily business use with a personal driver and for weekend trips with the family.

GM PATAC has asked students to think about the minimum package needed for future mobility in China's megacities. The package should include sufficient personal space and all the conveniences that car-buyers have come to expect, while allowing everyone to move around the city comfortably and freely.

VW, meanwhile, has used its name to challenge students to develop not just one car, but ‘the perfect pair' of people's cars. Their buyers are in China's huge countryside and need one form of transport for their work and another for family travel to the cities for trade.

Winners will each receive all-expense paid placements at the Northumbria University School of Design in the UK, which will last for two weeks and take place at the start of the 2010 academic year, commencing in September/October.

Winners will also become finalists in the 2010 Student Design Awards, organized by CDN's print magazine Interior Motives, thereby becoming potential prize winners on the world stage. Whilst in the UK, the winning students will take fully funded trips to Paris to attend the global Awards ceremony and visit the 2010 Paris motor show, which will be in full swing at that time.

Finally, there are prizes worth over $2000 in annual memberships as well as subscriptions to CDN and Interior Motives for the universities where the winners are enrolled.

Registration for the Car Design Awards competition continues until the end of January 2010, which is the deadline for students to submit their entries. The competition is open to full-time students of any design discipline who are studying at a university or college in China. But in line with the competition's objectives, Chinese students studying at schools outside the country are not eligible.

See full details and register for the Awards at www.cardesignevents.com

The shortlist of the best designs, from which the winners will be chosen, will be revealed in March and displayed on CDN. The competition's sponsors include CH Auto, a leading design and development consultancy based in Beijing; Alcantara, the renowned creator of sensorial material applications for sports car interiors; Johnson Controls, a leading supplier of automotive interior solutions; and Eagle Ottawa, the world's largest supplier of premium automotive leather. Supporting media partners include the automotive channel of www.sina.com, the world's largest Chinese-language infotainment web portal; www.hxsd.com, China's best known website about digital arts; and www.chinavisual.com, China's most influential design industry website.    

Details of the global Student Design Awards, organized by CDN's print magazine Interior Motives, are available at www.interiormotivesawards.com

By Eric Gallina