Shortlists revealed for CDN People Awards

The People Awards aims to celebrate the people behind the design, celebrating not just the design directors but the creative talent at every level of the design process: from the CMF team to the UX designers and everyone in-between.

Since the event was launched in May, the entries have flooded in. Ahead of the main event held in London on 7 December, Car Design News can now reveal the shortlisted entries for the awards show, with a number of big names but also some exciting undiscovered talent. Given the diverse array of fields within automotive design, we asked leading industry figures which aspects of design they would like to see recognised, alongside the well-established disciplines such as exterior and interior design.

Below are the shortlists for each category, the brief behind the awards and a sample of the supporting material put forward.

Best Exterior Design Team

Dynamic, visually exciting design created by the team that thinks beyond form to create a mould-breaking innovation that brings something new to the industry.

• Rivian
• Kia
• Lotus
• Polestar
• Tata
• Mahindra and Mahindra

Best Lighting Design Team

The lighting designers who can show through their work how light can convey modes of driving, interior ambience, enhance the UX, and communicate with the world outside the car.

• Volvo Cars
• Hyundai
• Skoda
• KIA
• Tata

Best Interior Design Team sponsored by Ultrafabrics

The team that uses combinations of materials and textures with a strong focus on sustainability, functionality, and aesthetics to create class-leading interiors. 

• Dodge
• Fisker
• Lotus
• Volvo
• Mahindra & Mahindra

Best CMF Team

Innovative use of materials and colour to create a strong, clear aesthetic that unifies exterior and interior design.

• SEAT
• Tata
• Italdesign
• Automobili Pininfarina
• JLR Ranger Rover SV Team
• JLR Defender Team
• Mahindra and Mahindra 

Undiscovered Talent Award sponsored by GAC

Car Design News is looking for undiscovered design talent. You might be a recent graduate with a standout portfolio on the cusp of entering the professional ranks or a talented student taking the first steps in your design education.

• Alan Zachariah
• Jan-Frederik Niehues
• Jakup Štrpka
• Jonathon Allen
• Ken Gan 

Most Sustainable Design Team sponsored by Citroen

The award goes to the design team who pushes the boundaries in terms of materials, manufacturing, carbon footprint and offers scalable real-world solutions to the challenges of the environment.

• Spadaconcept
• Hyundai
• Automobili Pininfarina
• Polestar

Best Clay Modeller

The person or team with an almost supernatural ability to render sketches in clay at ¼ and full-scale at speed.

• Harshad Bosale, MIT Institute of Design, Pune
• Mike Farnham and Genesis Design North America modeling staff
• Harry Burgess, Tata
• Yong Hou, GAC
• Rivian clay modelling team 

Most Supportive Design Leader sponsored by Konzepthaus Group

A designer who inspires their team to push the boundaries of automotive design through leadership, creating a supportive working culture and quick decision making.

• Mark Stehrenberger, Mark Stehrenberger Design
• Lotus, Russell Carr
• Lotus, Ben Payne
• Nissan, Alfonso Albaisa
• Volvo, Robin Page

Beyond Automotive Design Award

Holistic and circular thinking within automotive design that goes beyond the traditional automotive tropes to integrate the issues of infrastructure, design sustainability, circularity, to affect positive cultural impact within vehicle design.

• Lizete Druka, Volvo Cars
• Rinspeed Inc
• Harman
• Hyundai and KIA brands
• RCA

Best Digital Modelling Team

The person or team who can take the sketch and the package – proportions, dimensions and lines – and bring those parts to life in the virtual space through astute analyses of data, a willingness to experiment, and creative thinking. Entrants should be able to demonstrate how their team has refined the design through improvements to geometry, texture and colour to create a holistic and coherent whole. 

• Frederic Gasson, RealNum
• Valentino Racca, Geely
• Ford
• Ryan Bilkos, Rivian
• Kia Digital Design Team 

Best Sketcher

A freehand line drawing of a production or concept car that was built, demonstrating consummate skill and mastery of the craft. 

• Zida Ren, Mercedes Benz
• Tamir Mizrahi
• Benjamin Pérot, Polestar
• Xiaolin Xu, GAC
• Dan Forsgren, Volvo

Best Branding Team

Strong messaging, graphic design and narrative combine to tell a compelling brand story that encapsulates the values of the OEM.

• Harman
• Polestar
• Volvo
• Kia
• Mahindra & Mahindra 

Best User Experience Design Team

The UX team that understands what it is to create an intuitive and user-friendly with a coherent and memorable aesthetic that strengthens the connection between the car and the customer.

• Rivian
• Equal
• Incari GmbH
• Tata
• Polestar

Equality by Design Award sponsored by Volvo

The design of a space that is inclusive towards global and diverse customer needs, thoughtful and functional adaptive solutions to provide for an experience for belonging for every passenger.

• Fisker 
• Ford
• GAC
• Skoda