Interior Motives Design Awards 2013 launched

Registration for the eleventh Interior Motives Student Design Awards has now opened. This is your chance to take part in one of the most important events on the design calendar, and to display your talent and fresh thinking to the world's top vehicle designers and automotive press.

The theme of this year's competition is ‘The Connected Car'. To help inspire you in your design process, Interior Motives collaborated with co-sponsors Ford and Volkswagen to come up with four challenging, thought-provoking briefs:

Internal and external connectivity
Internal connectivity means the car´s interaction with devices inside the car and the car´s interaction with The Cloud and other vehicles. How does the future car electronic system support communication and data transfer internally? How are the occupants connected to the car and how do they communicate with the outside world?

Imagine an interior that presents its occupants with a mixed reality concept – one in which virtual technology will allow them to see behind and inside buildings as they pass through urban environments, and that will receive information relevant to the driver's (and the car's) needs. Consider how this human-machine interface will look and function.

Changing modes
How can or will the interior layout change with the arrival of a fully automated driving scenario? What does the transition from active driving to fully automated driving mode look like? How do the driver and passengers experience this change of function?

The three-in-one interior
The arrival of automated driving systems will allow the car of the future to perform three very different roles: performance car, office/workspace, and living room. Create an interior that is able to satisfy all three functions while respecting the dynamics of a mobile environment. Explore each scenario, always keeping in mind that this is a moving vehicle that turns, accelerates and decelerates. The ergonomics will therefore need to be different to an office or home living space, while still giving the same feeling.

A private world
Connectivity and fully automated driving technology will create a true separation between the vehicle's occupants and the environment they are driving through. With the need to be visible to pedestrians and other road users no longer applicable to the car, what opportunities for interior privacy will be created? Design an interior that feels like a truly immersive, private world for its passengers.

Prizes will be awarded in the following eight categories:

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

Entries will be assessed by a judging panel comprising some of the biggest names in vehicle design, including Volkswagen's Romulus Rost and Wolfgang Müller-Pietralla, and Global Director of Ford Interiors, Amko Leenarts.

In addition to the category winners, the overall 2013 Student Design of the Year – a title that carries with it prize money of $5,000 – will also be named at a glamorous ceremony in Frankfurt on 9th September, the eve of the first Frankfurt Motor Show press day. There, shortlisted students and finalists will have the opportunity to show off their work and mingle with the some of most influential vehicle designers working today.

Full details of the competition and how to enter can be found on the Interior Motives website. The contest is open to anyone enrolled at an accredited undergraduate or graduate design degree programme, both in the automotive and non-automotive fields; those studying fashion design, industrial design, architecture and other areas are also eligible. Entries must have been designed during the current 2012/2013 academic year, and be submitted no later than midnight on 12th April 2013.

We wish everyone who enters the best of luck and look forward to seeing some of you at the awards ceremony in Frankfurt on 9th September.

By CDN Team