Each year for the past seven years, a topical theme is chosen and the major Southern California automotive design studios are invited to compete in the Design Challenge. For the first time studios from Germany and Japan will join the competition adding an international dimension to the contest. The highly anticipated challenge allows studios to flex their creativity and explore new ideas in automotive design.

The theme this year addresses society’s shift toward minimizing consumption of the earth’s resources. The objective is to envision an efficient, light-weight, four passenger vehicle (not to exceed 1,000 lbs.), that is both comfortable and safe, while delivering satisfactory driving performance without sacrificing the styling consumers demand.

The winners will be announced November 18th at the Designers Night Party in Loas Angeles.

Judges

Tom Matano
Director, Industrial Design,
Academy of Art University

Imre Molner
Dean, College for Creative Studies

Stewart Reed
Chair, Transportation Design,
Art Center College of Design

Clive Hawkins
President, Aria Product Development

About Design Los Angeles (.PDF)
Design Challenge Entry Summaries (.PDF)
Previous Design Challenge Winners (.PDF)