Interiors Concept Project Gives Coventry Design Students 2020 Vision

LUTON, UNITED KINGDOM – February 10, 2010: When Vauxhall successfully launched its flagship Insignia, it used the creative theme ‘Insignia Project’ focussing on a top secret research facility where the Insignia was kept under wraps.

Now the covers have come off, Vauxhall has launched another project – but this time with design students from Coventry University, tasking them to look at and create innovative and visionary interior concepts for the next decade.

The design challenge is being championed by Opel/Vauxhall’s Advanced Chief Designer, Richard Shaw. Richard, a past student of the class leading Vehicle Design Course at Coventry explains:

“We are very committed to helping tomorrow’s car designers explore their skills on a practical level. As many design challenges focus on exterior form, we thought to challenge the students to mainly focus on what they feel the interior environments of tomorrow will need to encompass.”

Richard travelled from the Opel/Vauxhall Advanced Studio in Germany to see the students and asked them to look at potential interior design solutions for 2020, focussing on their vision for a next generation vehicle within the Vauxhall portfolio. The challenge is to profile the customer of tomorrow, explore their needs and desires, anticipate how rapidly-changing technology might enable these, and bring alive this vision in a way that recognises how ‘Generation Y’ customers will be using cars ten years from now.

David Browne, Course Director in Automotive Design at Coventry University adds:

“In all vehicle design, it’s so important to keep future watching – not just from a design perspective, but also to gauge people’s changing expectations in what they demand from a car, and how environmental responsibility and legislation will influence these.. It’s very important to balance form and function together with emotional and rational needs. We are encouraging students from several disciplines from the Design School at Coventry to enter the challenge, not just those from the Automotive Design Course, so we are expecting to see a wide raft of thinking approached in many different ways.”

The competition runs from now until mid March 2010 when the students will present their thoughts back to Richard and others from the Advanced Design Team. One overall winner will be chosen and their prize is practical hands on experience with Opel/Vauxhall Design in Rüsselsheim.

And if the students are looking for added inspiration on current Vauxhall interior design language, then they have a car of their very own. Recently, the company donated an Insignia to the Design School to use in practical workshops and assist them in their ongoing studies.

The competition will be judged by David Browne, Richard Shaw and David Brisbourne, Senior Lecturer in Automotive and Transport Design at Coventry University, and like Richard, a graduate of the course.