March 14, 2012 - McLean, Va. ... IMTS – The International Manufacturing Technology Show 2012 show management and Local Motors have announced that the winner of the first-ever IMTS 2012 Rally Fighter Graphic CarSkin Competition is Heather True, Marketing Assistant/Graphic Designer at BIG Kaiser Precision Tooling Inc.

True’s IMTS Rally Car design was chosen from the 32 entries.  “We are delighted to see the excitement and response to the competition.  All 32 entries were winners in our eyes and we’re excited to see Heather’s entry rise to the top.  She really captured the essence of the manufacturing technology industry and the show in her design,” said Peter Eelman, IMTS Vice President – Exhibitions and Communications. 

The competition is being held in anticipation of the building of an automobile on the show floor at IMTS 2012 which takes place Sept. 10-15 at Chicago’s McCormick Place and features the most advanced manufacturing technology in the world. 

As the designer of the winning skin, True will receive $1,050 along with highlighted status on The Forge and exclusive Local Motors winner’s gear. 

The Rally Fighter Graphic CarSkin Competition is True’s first design competition.  “When I found out about the Rally Fighter Skin Competition at the IMTS Exhibitor Workshop in January, I was very excited to get an opportunity to participate in this competition, Heather said.  “Since this was my first skin design, I began by paying attention to how other racing cars were designed to gather inspiration. As soon as the competition began, and I got the design details, I went to work researching IMTS and Local Motors. I wanted to create a car that would work well with the look and feel of IMTS.”

She began with the flattened layout of the car and worked in Adobe Illustrator to come up with the initial design.  The Local Motors design community was a big help to her.  “It was nice to be able to submit early designs and get feedback,” she explained.  “I then went back to the drawing board and incorporated the IMTS icons to represent the different forms of manufacturing technology.  I was inspired by the shape and feel of the icons, logos and themes from past and present IMTS shows.  There were some great designs in this competition.  It is always a great thrill to see what other designers do with their talent; I am inspired on a daily basis.”

"It's thrilling to see this type of connection and collaborative development happen at near warp speed,” said John B. Rogers, Jr., President, Co-Founder & CEO of Local Motors.  “The implications are enormous and will change not only the way we pursue design, but also engineering development and manufacturing at large.  Congratulations to Heather for earning her first podium finish, and welcome to the community!"

True has worked as a graphic designer for nine years, focusing mainly on print media including catalogs, sales collateral, exhibit graphics and promotional items. 

“IMTS has been a big part of my life for the last fouryears. I am just overwhelmed that my design was picked,” she said.  “For me IMTS is about being able to meet the people who work in the industry and hear how they use our tooling, or how we may be able to provide them with solutions to help their shop run more efficiently.  Every two years I fall in love all over again with IMTS.  The sheer size of the event is enough to make anyone’s jaw drop.  Preshow is amazing to watch.  McCormick Place changes from a land of concrete to a world filled with the newest manufacturing technology.  It sends all my senses on a six-day adventure.”

To highlight the current and future impact of collaborative manufacturing, True’s skin design will be applied to one of two IMTS Rally Fighters, which will be showcased at IMTS.  The Rally Fighter featuring this winning design will be built at the Local Motors micro-factory in Chandler, Ariz., this month and will travel to various events on its way to IMTS in September.  The other will be built live by the Local Motors team on the actual IMTS show floor as part of the Emerging Technology Center (ETC).

Another CarSkin competition in early summer will determine the skin for the IMTS Rally Fighter being built on the show floor in the ETC.

The Rally Fighter is the world’s first open source production vehicle, designed and developed by a collaboration between a global community and Local Motors, a new American car company, at www.local-motors.com. This interactive manufacturing experience allows customers to actually build their own Rally Fighter with professional supervision.  The process is efficient and sustainable at 10x faster development and 100x less capital intensity than traditional models.

To learn more about IMTS 2012, visit http://www.IMTS.com.

IMTS – International Manufacturing Technology Show

The largest and longest running manufacturing technology trade show in the United States is held every other year at McCormick Place in Chicago, Ill. IMTS 2012 will run September 10-15. IMTS is ranked among the largest trade shows in the world. Recognized as one of the world’s preeminent stages for introducing and selling manufacturing equipment and technology, IMTS attracts more than 82,000 visitors from every level of industry and over 119 countries. IMTS is owned and managed by AMT – The Association For Manufacturing Technology. www.IMTS.com

Local Motors

Local Motors is a new American car company setting an exciting and sustainable course to design, manufacture, and sell cars for niche markets. Local Motors co-creates new purposeful vehicles and components with its community of 14,000 designers, engineers and enthusiasts using open source principals.  Anyone can join the Local Motors community at www.local-motors.com to assist in designing and engineering of new, innovative, vehicles, and anyone can help choose which vehicles are produced and available for purchase.  Local Motors shares all vehicle data to allow easier modification, home builds or creation of new components to fit existing vehicles.  Local Motors does not sell kits. Customers get to build their co-created vehicle at the Local-Motors Micro Factory with professional assistance.  The build is completed during 2, 3-day build weekends. Local Motors has been recognized for its groundbreaking approach to automotive development, appearing in articles in Popular Science, Wired and Popular Mechanics and was featured on the Discovery Channel. Now any individual, company or organization can co-create vehicles, parts and accessories through Local Motors’ co-creative challenge-based platform called “The Forge”; email support@local-motors.com for details.