If you are a budding designer and have your own views on what a car should look like, then maybe this is the sort of design assignment you are looking for. The Mazda Design Challenge has been launched and they are looking for members of “Facebook” to bring a whole new freshness to the 2018 Mazda3. This competition which is already running, is open only to residents of the United States and will conclude on November 7th 2007.

This bold move by the Mazda think tank believes this approach will bring a whole new perspective to its already best selling car globally, the Mazda3, by hiring the brightest of the participants. The winner will have the priviledge of working with the Design Director of Mazda North America, Franz Von Holzhausen.

This is no ordinary contest, the competition will be tough, a 150 word description of their vision accompanied by a sketch that will be judged by the Mazda designers to hone the field down to ten semi finalists. The final five finalist will be chosen by the Facebook community who then pair up with in house designers to “perfect” their design, may I add, hopefully not to dilute it! The five finished designs will be judged by the Facebook community over a one week period with the winner traveling to Los Angeles to apply the finishing touches with the Mazda Design Team.

Now this is where it gets interesting, this final design will be executed as a fullsize model over the course of the ten day Greater Los Angeles Auto Show. Now does that mean that the model will be created in house and brought to the auto show on the last day or is it going to be modeled on stage over the course of the ten days. A ten day model will represent merely a proportion model that will only give a hint of what’s to come, even so, very exciting times for the winner who gets to unveil the concept and speak about their vision.

Included in the winning package is travel, accomodation, $1000.00 spending money and a brand new Mazda3 but the biggest benefit is the work experience that many people never have the opportunity to live. The opportunity to work with a professional design team, sculptors and a design director in an environment or cauldron should I say where the product has to be complete in two weeks!