Lap Top Design Contest Draws Hundreds of Contestants
Laptop Design USA was looking for a few good computer geeks to create a unique design for the cover of a lap top computer.
Some 300 entries included photographs, digitally produced 3-D images and original designs. Aspiring designers had 90 days, beginning in March, to submit their entries, electronically or by mail, before a 30-day voting period began.
Thirty finalists in the Pimp the Laptop contest were selected with the grand-prize winner being the designer of record turntable image. Kevin McLean, an engineering student at Gonzaga University in Spokane, WA, submitted the winning entry. He will receive a one-of-a-kind “screaming machine” laptop built by Rave Computer. The lid of the laptop will be customized with his winning design.
“I read about the contest on an Internet message board,” McLean said in a statement. “I’ve always wanted to be a DJ as a hobby so I thought having a record turntable on a laptop would catch looks.”
One sweepstakes winner was also randomly selected from the more than 8,000 contest voters. The winner will receive an Actius MC 24 Sharp laptop from Sharp Systems, also customized with the winning design.
“The contest just reinforced our research that there is a tremendous interest in personalization—even when it comes to laptops,” said Peder Blohm, the president and CEO of Laptop Design, Detroit, MI, in a statement. “It’s also raised tremendous awareness about the services we offer to customize the lids of laptops and notebook computers for corporate and personal use.”
Laptop Design USA offers branding of laptop computers as a marketing tool to build name recognition and for anti-theft protection.
