Finalists announced in exterior phase of CDN-GM Interactive Design competition

The exterior phase of the CDN-GM Interactive Design competition closed on the November 7th, with over 150 entries from design students based in the USA and Canada, making it our most popular interactive competition phase so far.

After the press days of the recent LA Auto Show, judges and mentors from GM, along with our competition partners Dassault Systèmes, Faurecia and SRG Global, gathered at GM's North Hollywood advanced design studio to pick the finalists. Those chosen will be invited to attend the 2012 NAIAS in Detroit, along with finalists from the interiors phase, and on the second press day, interiors and exterior winners will be announced for each brand.

The judges were impressed with the standard of entries once again. It was particularly interesting to see how the standard of entries varied across brands – we were all intrigued to see how GMC had proved so popular, with many impressive entries and strong debate over who should make the final. However, there can only be three finalists for each brand, so after a long debate, the judges have chosen to invite the following students to join them in Detroit...

Buick
Luke Mack (Luke Mack), of the College of Creative Studies; Michael McGee (MMcGee) of the College of Creative Studies; and Su-hyun Lim (Sean) of Art Center College of Design

Cadillac
Jiyeon Ha (Jenny) of Art Center College of Design; Yung-Cheng Huang (barefeetbuffalo) of the College of Creative Studies; and Gihwan Kim (Gihwan Kim) of the College of Creative Studies

Chevrolet
Colin Bonathan (colinbonathan) of Lawrence Technical University; Taylor Langhals (Sketchcrazy) of the College of Creative Studies; and Philip Ma (PMA) of Academy of Art University

GMC
Shane Harbour (Shenbo) of the College of Creative Studies; Brook Banham (Brook) of the College of Creative Studies; and Tianye Wang (Mike) of the College of Creative Studies

Buick
CCS student Luke Mack impressed the judges with his research into the brand and was credited for his pencil sketches - which presented a clear theme - as well as his package drawing and rendering skills. The design "was high on our list", said GM's Executive Director of Interior Design, Dave Lyon.

The judges also chose CCS student ‘MMcGee' as a finalist for the Buick brand competition, with Dave Lyon noting how he "loved the side view" of one of McGee's theme sketches. "I like his form development and rendering technique," Lyon continued, "He's considering lighting and dimensions and has shown great progress." Anne Asensio VP of Design Experience at Dassault Systemes thought the design was "bold", while her colleague, mentor Dre Clemons, also praised McGee on his technique of capturing the idea and refining it.

Art Center College of Design student ‘Sean' gained recognition from the judges for his Buick ‘Flow' concept. "I enjoyed the flow of the surfaces and his interesting grille treatment", commented Dre Clemons. "It's a very polarizing front end," added Anne Asensio.

Continues →

By CDN Team