Since mid December visitors to the official Fiat 500 website have been able to express their creative ideas by taking part in the 500 Sticker Art Contest, a competition that has been open to all graphic designers, street artists, tattoo makers, freestylers, food designers and other visual artists. Users of the site in turn have been able to select the five finalists for the best customisation for the car exterior, with the winner being set to receive a “500 wants you” gold ingot.

Now the final five finalists have been selected by the official jury, based on the criteria of the graphic originality of the subject, the versatility and feasibility of the proposal and its coherence with the 500 brand. The five decorations that the 'Community' has chosen as finalists are available for viewing on the website, and visitors can now vote for their favourite one online, and also have the chance to win one of 50 Fiat 500 scale models up for grabs. The voting classification is being updated on the website in real time. The five proposals chosen for the final are:

Please do not disturb (by dixe); Jury evaluation: Originality of subject, creative idea and strong connection between the interior and exterior of the car, by means of the view of the body expression of the occupants, with iconographic extrusion on the outside. The idea is highly feasible and versatile.

5oo - CodiceAbarre (by giu): Jury evaluation: Versatile proposal, with the bar code making an interesting reference to consumer products and to the legend of the historic model; dressing the 500 with this package makes it ready for use.

Jaquard (by makeimage); Jury evaluation: Very versatile and very consistent with the 500 brand, it is a livery for the new car. Has the potential to be used in other patterns and to create a link with the car’s interior details.
 

Display (by pmkr): Jury evaluation: A combination of technology and a high degree of personalisation by the owner of the car, with playful interactive elements. Text image: Position the mask, compose the display (in the colours you want using those available), enjoy the message.

Eiffel Power (by vvinci); Jury evaluation: The skyline and graphic details, and the graphic details, are very interesting. The icon has great potential for internationalisation and has the versatility for further urban uses.

The “500 wants you” project has been most successful online, thanks to the www.fiat500.com site. And the figures (taken at mid December 2006) underline the amazing success of this venture: approximately 14,750,000 page views, over 2,397,000 visits, almost 1,875,000 unique visitors and more than 29,300 registered users. And that is not all. Over 166,500 configurations and 22,480 suggestions have been submitted through the Concept Lab. Plus: 682 contributions to “500ology”, 1,262 mascots sent in, 1,456 jingles composed and 1,443 MP3s downloaded, 1,057 drawings for Designboom and 20 proposed homepages. And with the countdown to the launch of the new Fiat 500 well underway, ideas continue to flow in, and new initiatives are about to start.

During the last week Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne has also confirmed widespread rumours that the launch of the new Fiat 500 will be brought forward to July.