Eyes On Design

Michigan has a great number of car shows and events, but one of the highlights of each year for automotive enthusiasts is EyesOn Design. For the past twenty-four years, EyesOn Design has brought hundreds of vehicles together with collectors, designers, and the general public together to celebrate the art of transportation design. The event raises money for the Detroit Institute of Ophthalmology (DIO), an internationally-recognized non-profit which accelerates the development of “artificial vision” — technology which will one day allow some visually impaired persons to regain vision to see the world around them, including seeing the designs of automobiles.




While Eyes On Design rivals the world’s great concours events, EyesOn Design was—from day one—a unique concept: have automotive designers judge the vehicles on display based on their design merits, not on the quality of the restoration. With the support of Detroit Three design VPs Jack Telnack (Ford), Chuck Jordan (GM), and Tom Gale (Chrysler), EyesOn Design held its first show at the Grosse Pointe Academy in 1987. It was Tom Gale who said, “we don’t even care of there are rust spots. It is about design.”




The show has attracted tens of thousands of attendees over the years to its perpetual home, the Edsel and Eleanor Ford House in Grosse Pointe Shores. It left the Ford House for two years to be held at Chrysler Headquarters and at the GM Technical Center. GM called the 2003 show the “largest, most complete collection of concept vehicles ever assembled,” and the show marked the first time the GM Design Center was ever opened to the public. People from all walks of life come to see everything between the turn of the century and the latest concept cars from the Detroit auto show.




Throughout the years, automotive legends—such as Sergio Pininfarina and Gordon Buehrig—have graced EyesOn Design, while today’s design legends and executives are on hand as judges and supporters of the show. Each year, the EyesOn Design Lifetime Achievement Award is presented. Selected by its previous recipients, recognizes distinguished careers in automotive design. One award is given every year, and recipients join a group of some of the most influential designers in the world, including recent recipients Giorgetto Giugiaro, Tom Gale, Chuck Pelly, Chuck Jordan, Jack Telnack, Marcello Gandini, Robert Lutz, Willie G Davidson, Shiro Nakamura, and this year’s winner Walter de’Silva of Volkswagen Group. EyesOn Design has received support from both the Detroit Three and European and Japanese automakers showing the importance of its undertaking and the international scope of its reach.

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