DVN’s lighting design contest is ongoing. It started in mid-September, and 32 students handed in submissions last week. This week, we will choose six of them, one per school. The selected ones will be shown on stage during the DVN Munich event in February.
To guide our students, we had several meetings with the teachers and students to give them some understanding about the technologies and techniques involved in vehicle lighting, the basics of the regulations, and we answered their questions.
Thomas Ingenlath proposed a sentence among the Jury to guide them a bit:
‘The students are invited to understand the legal requirements that modern light design is constrained by. They are challenged to use creativity, imagination and innovative use of new technologies to overcome those boundaries and design inspiring and beautiful new designs that open the horizon to a new era in automotive lighting.’
Two of the jurors are well-known designers Cesar Muntada (Head of Light Experience Design at Audi) and Thomas Ingenlath (Senior Advisor at Geely Group). I took time to talk with them about our lighting contest, why they joined, what they expect, how lighting is important for them.
Paul-Henri Matha: Why have you accepted to be part of the jury?
Thomas Ingenlath: I like the topic of the competition. It might seem a very specific and boxed-in task and not as sexy as designing a whole car, but spending time to deep dive a quite technology-heavy topic and be creative within this field is a great training and challenge for the students. The experience I gained when making lights a major element of distinction for the cars we created should be a sufficient background for the jury work. And I am very curious to see the results and hear about the motivation of the designers.
Cesar Muntada: Audi’s innovation drive brought over 20 years ago light design to the auto industry, creating a radical change on how cars are being designed, defining brand identity at day and night.
The DVN light design competition has attracted leading design schools, and it will surely bring forward fresh approaches to the way light should be designed and used in future times.
As I was approached by DVN to be part of the jury, I understood the responsibility we have to give new thinking a true chance to redefine light design again. A task that must be undertaken by the young generation of designers, and that I’m proud of assessing.
Paul-Henri: Why is automotive lighting important to you, and how do you see its evolution over recent years?
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