Interior Motives Design Awards 2013 judges decide shortlist

The shortlist of potential winners in the 2013 Interior Motives Design Awards has been announced, and can be viewed here.

This year's competition saw a record number of entries submitted: some 198 projects from 28 schools spread across 19 different countries. From this pool of contenders, each of our distinguished jury panel was asked to nominate their top three in each of the eight categories in contention. All projects that received a nomination automatically qualified for the shortlist.

With this task complete, our panel of distinguished design professionals then assembled at a London venue for the annual round-table judging event. After much heated debate and more than a few disagreements, the panel finally selected the finalists in each category. The standard of entries really impressed this year, with one judge commenting, "There are so many designs that deserve recognition – there is some real talent on display here." 

The attention to detail evident in this year's projects came in for particular praise. "An extraordinary amount of work has gone into these pieces to tell a story," said one judge, while another pointed out that, "intense effort has obviously been put into developing the mood beyond the product, into bringing something new in terms of communication."

The finalists will be revealed at a glamorous awards ceremony at Moon 13 (formerly The Cocoon Club) in Frankfurt on 9th September, the eve of the first Frankfurt motor show press day. There, partygoers will be able to view the projects in person and relax over a drink and food with their colleagues as awards are given in the following eight categories: 

The winner of each category receives $500 in prize money, and one student (or group of students) will walk away with the accolade of Interior Motives Student Designer of the Year, which carries with it a prize of $5,000.

The 2013 Interior Motives Awards judging panel includes Anne Asensio, vice president Design Experience at Dassault Systèmes; Erika Tsubaki, design strategy and future at Ford; Jonathan Disley, strategic manager Volvo Advanced Design Interior and Exterior; Amko Leenarts, director of Global Interiors Design Strategy at Ford; Pratap Bose, head of design at Tata; Chris Chapman, chief designer at Hyundai North America; Scott Strong, director of design at Ford; Juergen Scharr, seat designer at Uedelhoven Studio; David Woodhouse, chief designer at Ford; BASF designer Eva Hoefli; SAIC UK design director Martin Uhlarik; Audi's head of interior design, Karl-Heinz Rothfuss; Wolfgang Mueller-Pietralla, head of future affairs at Volkswagen; Romulus Rost, head of interior design at Volkswagen Design Centre Potsdam; Lou Tik, design director at JAC Italy; Simon Harris, chief designer at Visteon; Robin Page, director interior design at Volvo; Euan Sey, editor of Interior Motives magazine, and Owen Ready, editor of Car Design News.

This year's competition is supported by gold sponsors Volkswagen, Ford, Dassault Systèmes, Dinamica, Visteon, RTT and BASF; and silver sponsors Eagle Ottawa, Uedelhoven Studios, Linkage Design, Optic Group, Bose and Fast Design Engineering.

For more information on the event – including how to book your place at the awards evening on 9th September – visit the official Interior Motives Design Awards website.

By CDN Team