Ford Motor Company Wins Accolade for Detroit Auto Show Exhibition Design

NEW YORK, Jan. 16, 2003; Ford Motor Company has been honored by with an Eyes on Design Award for "Most Significant Exhibit Design" at the North American International Auto Show 2003 in Detroit. The Awards, co- sponsored by Michelin North America and Johnson Controls, acknowledge design excellence in the automotive field.

The entire Ford Motor Company exhibition space was master-planned by Imagination. In addition, Imagination, which has its offices in London, Detroit, New York and California, designed the Ford Division, Mazda, Lincoln, Mercury, Aston Martin, Jaguar and Land Rover exhibition stands.

Imagination has had a working relationship with Ford for over 20 years in Europe and has been contracted to provide strategic direction and exhibition design services for Ford Motor Company and its family of brands (excluding Volvo) at the key global/international auto shows since 1998.

For NAIAS 2003 in Detroit, Imagination created all new displays for Ford Division, Mercury, Mazda and Jaguar, looking to deliver an enjoyable, informative and memorable visitor experience, particularly in Ford's centennial year. Imagination also remodeled their existing designs for Lincoln and Aston Martin to give them added presence.

The highlight of the Ford Division display is a huge oval structure that creates an immersive environment in which to showcase the new production and concept cars. The oval structure also incorporates one of the largest video walls ever seen at the Detroit Show, which features a specially formatted 12- minute film produced by Ford Division's advertising agency J. Walter Thompson. The film is fully integrated into an Imagination produced program featuring special sound and lighting states as well as a rotation of 9 live presentations of feature vehicles.

Equally unique, in terms of individual displays, is a multimedia feature on the ideas behind Ford's Model U concept vehicle -- a display every bit as ground breaking as its subject. Viewers can access information in a futuristic way by merely pointing to a glass projection screen.

For Mazda, Imagination has created an all-new stand to evoke a contemporary Japanese feel to complement the new and exciting products from the resurgent car company. The feature area on the stand, slightly elevated from the main floor, is the focus for the display of the new production version of the RX8 - the world's only rotary-engined car.

Immediately above this area, an LED screen almost 10 feet high and over 70 feet long is proving a popular attraction for Mazda, featuring graphic sequences -- inspired by Japanese style and culture - designed by Imagination Multimedia, along with contemporary music tracks specially commissioned from Japan. Visitors can interact with the video wall in real time by dragging stylized icons onto the large screen from smaller terminals placed on the floor of the stand. Adding the icons also creates a personalized mix of the accompanying music tracks.

The new Jaguar stand was created to provide further enforcement of the British luxury brand's credentials in North America. The cantilevered 20-ft.-high rear wall with inset LED video wall is a significant piece of engineering in its own right and is finished in American cherry wood with aluminum inserts. The key focus of the stand is the all-new Jaguar XJ sedan with its aluminum body. A giant suspended sculpture of hundreds of pieces of polished aluminum acts as a key draw for visitors to the Jaguar stand.

For Mercury, Imagination worked closely with the client to create a modern interpretation of the brand, highlighting their new corporate identity. Imagination also created the key feature of the Mercury stand -- six vertical LED video panels (each 20 feet high and 6 feet wide) displaying an animated sequence communicating Mercury brand values. This is combined with animations that respond to audio output from a DJ, playing live on the stand.

"We wanted Imagination's stand designs to deliver enjoyable, informative and memorable visitor experiences, particularly in Ford's centennial year," said David Girling, Ford Motor Company Client Services Director at Imagination. "We are particularly proud that the exhibit gained so much positive reaction from the judges of the `Eyes on Design Awards' as well as from our clients and the public. We are thrilled to have been involved with the Ford Motor Company in such a special year for them."

Imagination worked with a range of local and international contractors and suppliers to realize their designs.