Autoblog

Click the image above for a gallery from the show floor.

So after finally hoping on the Facebook-bandwagon, we decided to check up on how Mallory McMorrow's Mazda3 concept was coming along. After shaping and molding the clay on the LA show floor for over 10 days, the 2018 Mazda3 was finally displayed. Overall, it's cues tie in nicely with the "flow" theme crafted by Franz von Holzhausen and his team who helped McMorrow hone her design. We think it's a step in the right direction, particularly from an undergrad, and we're hopeful that the 21-year old industrial design student hits the ground running once she has her degree in hand.

[Source: Facebook]

Click the image above for a gallery of pics.

We were finally able to check out how the clay model of the Mazda Design Challenge winner was coming, and after two days of milling and scraping, Mallory McMorrow's design was beginning to materialize. Her vision of the 2018 Mazda3 began to look like an obvious choice considering how Mallory incorporated many of the "Flow" design elements that Mazda has debuted in concept form over the course of the last year, particularly the sweeping lines flanking the sides, the gaping grille and the tapered ducktail rear end.

The crew of designers and modelers toiling away at the full-size concept still has another seven days to complete the project, but we've already made the trek back to our respective homes. If you make it out to the last few days of the show and have pics of the finished product, send us tip so we can check out the results and share them with the rest of you.

In the meantime, you can head on over to our previous post about the winning design and peruse the gallery below.

After several weeks of voting over at Facebook, Mallory McMorrow emerged as the winner of the Mazda Design Challenge, a contest that tasked budding automotive artists to envision what design direction the Mazda3 might take in 2018. The 21-year-old Notre Dame industrial design major beat out 300 contestants over the course of the contest, and beyond being recognized for a her artistic prowess, she'll be on hand when her design is rendered in clay and paint over the course of the LA Auto Show.

Mallory will work with Mazda designer Jacques Flynn between November 14 and 24 to bring the concept to full-form, which she describes as an everyday sports car "that makes me forget that I own a five-door." We're looking forward to the transformation from a hunk of clay to a full-fledged concept over the next ten days, and we'll make it a point to see how it's progressing when the doors open up to the media tomorrow.

Mazda's taking a line out of Peugeot's playbook and enlisting the help of budding automotive artists to design the 2018 Mazda3. The "Mazda Design Challenge" is turning to the Facebook community to send in a rendering and a 150-word description of their concept for selection. Ten semi-semi-finalists will be selected, and over the course of a week Facebook users will be asked to vote, narrowing down the selection to five semi-finalists that will spend time with a Mazda designer to hone their vision.

From there, a second round of voting will commence, with the winner getting a cool $1000 and a flight to Los Angeles for the LA Auto Show, where they'll spend time with Mazda's N.A. design team, headed by Franz von Holzhausen, where the concept will be rendered live during the show.

For those of you too good for MySpace, you can head on over to Mazda's Facebook page, check the rules and enter your design. Good luck!

Mazda's full press release is posted after the jump.

[Source: Mazda]