Thanks to one of our trusty readers, we’ve come across this great contest. Mazda is sponsoring a special design challenge to all would-be designers out there for some great prizes, including the chance to have the winning concept revealed at the LA Auto Show in clay form.

Click here for the link to the contest. Must be registered with Facebook to enter.

The basis for the challenge is designing what the Mazda3 of 2018 will look like via essay and/or sketch/photo. It actually seems simple… overly simple.

But you have to hurry… deadline is Oct 12th!

For entry details, follow the jump.

Thanks to fastguy11 for the info.

How to Enter: During the Submission Phase, login to your Facebook account and join the “Mazda Design Challenge” sponsored group page. If you do not have a Facebook account, visit http://www.facebook.com to create a Facebook account. Creating a Facebook account is free. Once you are logged in, follow the links and instructions to post an essay and photo that demonstrates what the MAZDA3 of 2018 will look like (”Entry”) on the “Mazda Design Challenge” sponsored group page. You will receive one (1) entry into the Contest. By completing the registration and submitting your Entry, you agree that your Entry conforms to the Entry Guidelines and Content Restrictions as defined below (collectively, the “Guidelines and Restrictions”) and that Sponsor, in its sole discretion, may remove your Entry and disqualify you from the Contest if it believes, in its sole discretion, that your Entry fails to conform to the Guidelines and Restrictions.

Entry Guidelines:

• The essay must not exceed one hundred fifty (150) words;
• The photo must be in .bmp, .gif, .jpg, or .tif format;
• The photo must not exceed 3 MB in size;
• The photo’s dimensions must not exceed 1024×768; and
• The photo must not have been submitted previously in a promotion of any kind or exhibited or displayed publicly through any means previously.

Content Restrictions:

• The photo must not contain material that violates or infringes another’s rights, including but not limited to privacy, publicity or intellectual property rights, or that constitutes copyright infringement;
• The photo must not contain brand names or trademarks;
• The photo must not contain images or artwork not created by entrant;
• The photo must not contain material that is inappropriate, indecent, obscene hateful, tortious, defamatory, slanderous or libelous;
• The photo must not contain material that promotes bigotry, racism, hatred or harm against any group or individual or promotes discrimination based on race, sex, religion, nationality, disability, sexual orientation or age; and
• The photo must not contain material that is unlawful, in violation of or contrary to the laws or regulations in any state where Photo is created.

For all Entries: All Entries will become the exclusive property of Sponsor, and none will be acknowledged or returned. Sponsor shall have the right to edit, adapt and publish any or all of the Photos, and may use them in any media without attribution or compensation to the entrant, his/her successors or assigns, or any other entity. SUBMITTING AN ENTRY IN THIS CONTEST CONSTITUTES ENTRANT’S IRREVOCABLE ASSIGNMENT, CONVEYANCE AND TRANSFERENCE TO SPONSOR OF ANY AND ALL RIGHT, TITLE AND INTEREST IN THE PHOTO AND ESSAY INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, ALL COPYRIGHTS. Sponsor is not responsible for lost, late, incomplete, invalid, un-intelligible or misdirected Photos, which are disqualified.

Multiple entrants are not permitted to share the same email address. Any attempt by any entrant to submit more than the stated number of Entries by using multiple/different email addresses, identities or any other methods will void that voter’s entries and he/she will be disqualified from further participation in the Contest. Use of any automated system to enter is prohibited and will result in disqualification. Sponsor and Facebook are not responsible for lost, late, incomplete, invalid, unintelligible or misdirected Entries, which will be disqualified. In the event of a dispute as to any Entry, the authorized account holder of the email address used to enter will be deemed to be the entrant. The “authorized account holder” is the natural person assigned an email address by an Internet access provider, online service provider or other organization responsible for assigning email addresses for the domain associated with the submitted address. Potential winners may be required to show proof of being the authorized account holder.

6. Winner Determination: Winners will be determined via the process set forth below.

(a) Judging Phase: During the Judging Phase, qualified judges determined by Sponsor in its sole discretion, will select the entrants with the top ten (10) Entries (the “Semi-Finalists”) based on the following criteria (”Judging Criteria”):

• Creativity (33%)
• Originality (33%); and
• Fit to Theme (34%)

In the case of a tie, the entrant whose Entry received the highest score in the Fit to Theme category will be deemed the Semi-Finalist.