Nissan ‘Think Outside the Parking Box’ competition

Nissan, in collaboration with designboom, has launched an international graphic design competition with a theme to design the future of urban parking. Entitled 'Think Outside the Parking Box', registration to the competition is open to professionals, students, and design enthusiasts until September 27th, 2009.

Based around Nissan's Qashqai urban crossover - currently marketed as being 'urbanproof' - the brief calls for entries that challenge any element of urban parking, be it underground, exterior, interior, multi-layer or ground level. Designers can choose to focus on any number of elements - such as shape, color, material, smell, sound, ramps, signage and limits - to create innovative solutions, confronting existing perceptions of urban parking to offer a tougher, sleeker, or even playful rendering of current parking models.

The only set criterion is that a Qashqai model (or a part of it) be included in the final entry, though the vehicle does not have to be essential component of the design itself. The organizers stipulate that the vehicle should feature somewhere in the final video, in the picture of the object, illustration or image depicting the design. The organizers have also included a variety of images and videos of the Qashqai on their website to include in the entry.

A jury consisting of key executives at Nissan - including Shiro Nakamura, Senior Vice President and Chief Creative Officer and Alfonso Albaisa, Vice President of Nissan Design Europe - as well as TBWA\G1's European Creative Director and designboom's Editor-in-Chief will determine the top three designs, and cash prizes of €5000, €3000 and €2000 will be awarded to the first, second and third place winners, respectively.

Additional information and registration details for the competition can be found on the designboom website: www.designboom.com/nissan.html

By Eric Gallina