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Inktober Polestar Challenge

Competition is healthy. Even in a creative field, where competitiveness is often internal and results are difficult to objectively judge, a little competition can motivate, challenge, inspire. Leading to some truly amazing submissions.

Vibrant illustration depicting a person seated on the Saltlake Speeder Bike, traversing a sun-drenched desert landscape.

Which is exactly what happened during the first Polestar Design Community contest. Participants were asked to post their “craziest, creative, innovative Polestar sketch” with the hashtag #inktoberpolestarchallenge; open to all, 3D being the only thing off the table and a trip to Polestar HQ the prize. The competition took place in October 2019 in conjunction with Inktober, a challenge created by artist Jake Parker that encourages people to create and post ink drawings every day for the month of October. 

From the avalanche of excellent submissions emerged three finalists: Bruno Arena, Ruoqi Liang, and Arthur Martins Jr. 

“I personally think that Polestar is one of the very few brands that, whatever it does, it is fresh and intelligent,” says Arena, a Turin-based car designer. “They show that they have an open mind by running (the Polestar Design Community),” he continues, “willing to have a dialogue with ‘the outside’. I tried to keep in mind what this new brand means to me, and I drew this truck to fall within the stylistic aims of being avant-garde, minimalistic, and iconic.”

Liang, a transportation design student in China, was first introduced to Polestar via social media, saying “the Nordic style and exquisite details of the Polestar 1” are what interested her in the brand. “The technology and unique design style are what attract people to Polestar, and (the Polestar Design Community) provides a good opportunity for students and designers who love car design to show their work. ’Concise but not simple’ is my main design theme. I wanted it to be futuristic, with large clean surfaces that are a statement of luxury, with small details adding a touch of sophistication.”

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From left to right: Arthur Martins Jr.'s motorcycle, Ruoqi Liang's car, and Bruno Arena's truck.

“Polestar blends minimalist tech with elegance to create one of the most appealing car silhouettes out there,” states Martins Jr., a Brazilian industrial designer working in Los Angeles. “I believe (JP) is doing great work,” he says of the Design Community. “It really inspires people to share their creations. My goal was to create a very clean body style, which is unusual for motorcycles. The inspiration was a simple way to move someone from point A to point B. And what’s simpler than a line connecting wheel A to wheel B?”  

“This challenge generated outstanding entries,” states Senior Interior Design Manager and Design Community curator JP Bernal. “The passion and dedication these designers have can be seen in their fantastic submissions.” See the gallery for the creations that had these three finalists taking home the winning titles, though the trips to Polestar HQ had to be postponed. 

A bit of healthy competition forces people to dig deep. To push boundaries. To innovate. In other words, to act like Polestar. And there are more contests to come.

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