Interior Motives Awards 2012 judges decide shortlist

The Interior Motives Awards 2012 judging panel has whittled down a huge amount of entries into this year's competition to a shortlist of potential winners. The list can be viewed here.

Over 160 aspiring young designers from 47 schools in 17 countries entered the competition, reflecting the growing recognition of the importance of the Interior Motives Student Design Awards among would-be vehicle designers. As always, the judging panel comprises some of the biggest names in vehicle design. 

This year's distinguished line-up sees Andreas Stump, Head of Advanced Interior Design at Citroën; Anne Asensio, Vice President Design Experience at Dassault Systèmes; Bert Dehaes, Project Lead Designer at Nissan Design Europe and David Woodhouse, Chief Designer at Ford Strategic Concepts Group Design Studio invited to have their say.

Eva Hofli, Designer at BASF; Robert Melville, Senior Designer at McLaren Automotive; Uedelhoven Studios CEO Jürgen Uedelhoven; Romulus Rost, Head of Interior Design at Volkswagen Design Centre Potsdam; Peugeot Design Director Gilles Vidal; Adam Bazydlo, Senior Designer at Peugeot; and Ken Lee, Design Manager at Nissan Design Europe make up the remaining members of the panel.

At the recent first-round judging event, one of the judges said: "I was really impressed by the standard of this year's designs. I wasn't sure what to expect but there were some great entries," while another added that the bar had definitely been raised this year by this year's students. "It was difficult to be a judge this year," one of the panel joked, "trying to come to a decision on anything was a real struggle. So many of the submissions had a real quality about them."

The shortlisted entries automatically qualify for the second round of the judging process, in which awards will be given for the best designs in the following categories, each of which carries a prize of $500:

• Best eco interior
• Best use of technology
• Best innovative interior
• Best ergonomics
• Best conceptual interior
• Best production interior
• Best conceptual exterior
• Best artistic visualization

Trophies will be presented to the winning students at a ceremony in Paris, France on 26 September, the eve of the first motor show press day. Hopeful students and senior professionals from the automotive design industry will gather at the stylish Espace Clacquesin – a former brewery near the Montparnasse district of the French capital – to celebrate the achievements of the finalists and watch one deserving young designer receive the accolade of 2012 Student Designer of the Year and a cash prize of $5000. The awards ceremony will once again be hosted by one of the most influential figures in modern car design, Chris Bangle.

This year also sees the introduction of a completely new category – one that recognises the contribution made by design schools to the automotive industry. Selected according to the league table compiled by Car Design News, the school with the most winning entries in 2012's competition will be given a special award to acknowledge their excellence in the field of nurturing design talent.

This prestigious event in Paris on 26 September will also coincide with the tenth birthday of CDN's successful interior design quarterly Interior Motives. To celebrate this landmark event, we will be throwing a 10th Anniversary Party after the awards ceremony and inviting guests to drink and dance the night away in the bohemian surroundings of Clacquesan.

A DJ, delicious food and a range of fun events will be on offer to mark the occasion. Attendees will also take away a gift bag that includes a very special 10th Anniversary edition of Interior Motives magazine, in which a panel made up of some of the biggest names in car design will select their favourite interior designs from the last decade and discuss their thoughts on what makes good design.

The 2012 Interior Motives Student Design Awards is supported by Gold Sponsors Dassault Systèmes CATIA, BASF, Dinamica, Eagle of Ottawa, Objet, Peugeot, Uedelhoven Studios and Volkswagen and Silver Sponsors Lumiscaphe and L2 Concept.

View the shortlist for this year's Interior Motives Awards or register for the combined awards evening/10th Anniversary Party in Paris on 26 September on the IM website.

By Rufus Thompson