2 Troy Students Win 2012 Auto Show Poster Cash Awards

Imaginative, distinctive poster designs paid off for a senior and a Troy sophomore enrolled in the Bloomfield Hills School District.

Lahser High student Elizabeth Sabol, 16, was selected this month for a $1,000 top award in a statewide competition sponsored by the North American International Auto Show. Sindi Karoshi, 18, also is among 16 statewide finalists.

Sabol, known as "Lizzy" at school, impressed judges with her professional-quality graphic of a running figure with gears, pistons, springs and other automotive components representing flung-back arms, a beating heart, pumping calf muscles and wind-blown hair.

"I got inspired by looking at cars and comparing them to people, from the headlights to the grille making a face," she says.  

The skilled teen won the Chairmen's Award, one of two top prizes, and is one of just four sophomore prize-winners. Finalists were selected from among 900 entries.  

Troy High winner

Karoshi, a newcomer to computer-generated graphics, won $100 for her third-place finish.

"I just started learning about design this year," she says, crediting computer graphics teacher Heather Kelly for showing her how to combine her interest in mechanical drawing with her creativity. Karoshi plans to major in engineering in college.

Working with Adobe PhotoShop, a digital design tool, the Troy High senior added striking typography to a Detroit skyline image found online. Her entry grabs attention with a stylized nighttime silhouette of downtown above "NAIAS 2012" – referring to the North American International Auto Show.

Sabol used the Abobe Illustrator program to craft distinctive, dynamic artwork that suggests motion, machinery and modernity. Her entry also includes required type naming the show and its site.

The 16-year-old's early-stage career interests involve "automotive design as well as graphic design. I like graphic design because I enjoy using computers as a tool to create art."

Students' work on view

Detroit's auto extravaganza opens at Cobo Center with a Jan. 9-10 media preview before a Jan. 14-22 public exhibit of new models and concept cars.   

The event, among the highest-profile auto shows worldwide, is organized by the Troy-based Detroit Auto Dealers Association. It enlisted College for Creative Studies instructors from Detroit and other members of the local art community to judge the high school poster contest.

All 16 finalists' designs, submitted as 25-inch by 21-inch posters, will be displayed at the show and in the program brochure. They’re also displayed on the event's website. The dealers' association gave $6,300 to teen poster artists, including two $1,000 top prizes.

"This unique opportunity encourages students to pursue interests in not only the art community, but the automotive industry as well," says auto show chairman Bill Perkins, a Chevrolet dealer in Taylor.

Rod Alberts of Bloomfield Hills, executive director of the group, has overseen the downtown show since 1990.