Detroit's race just got its face, designed by a kid from South Korea who's never seen it

Every spring, while the rest of the motorsport world is busy arguing about tire compounds and pit stop strategy, something quieter and equally interesting happens in Midtown Detroit. A group of art students sit down and compete to capture the soul of one of the most iconic cities in motoring through a single image. This year, the winner came from about 6,636 miles away.

Reden Lee, an Illustration major at the College for Creative Studies, originally from South Korea, has been selected as the designer of the official commemorative poster for the 2026 Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix. Her winning artwork is warm, connected, and fresh, with crowd energy and set against a stylized Detroit skyline, all in orange.

Lee’s work beat out four fellow finalists in a competition judged by a nine-member panel that included photographers, designers, journalists, and Grand Prix executives. Fan voting on Detroit Grand Prix social media was folded into the final evaluation as well, which was a strong call. The people who actually show up on race weekend ought to have a say in what hangs on their wall afterward.

The twist here is that Lee has never been to the race. Some may see that as a negative, but you don’t have to see the trees bend to know how the wind is blowing. It’s clear his taste, skill, and honest care for what the event means to the people who do show up every year won him the competition.

"I wanted this poster to reflect the energy, warmth, and sense of togetherness that make the Detroit Grand Prix special," Lee said. The orange, he explained, represents shared excitement, the warmth of late May, and the feeling of a city celebrating itself. For someone who hasn't stood on those streets in race week, she nailed it.

Why this competition matters beyond the podium

The Detroit Grand Prix's partnership with CCS is now in its fourteenth consecutive year, which in the attention-span economy of modern sports marketing is essentially forever. The fact that it keeps going says something about both organizations' longevity and care for the fans. The Grand Prix benefits from this fresh creative energy and a genuine connection to Detroit's identity as a design city, which, given that it casts a mighty shadow on the global auto industry, is an identity worth uplifting. The students get something that design school doesn't always offer: a real client, a real deadline, a real audience, and a small scholarship for the five finalists courtesy of a partnership with Detroit Sports Media.

That last part matters. Honorable mentions went to CCS students Abigail Ryan, Morgan Patterson, and Angela Ortiz – names worth remembering. The judging panel also made the smart move of selecting next year's poster. CCS student Lauren McNair's 2027 design will be revealed at the Detroit Auto Show in January, which is both efficient and a little poetic – a car show revealing a race poster in a city that built the American automobile.

The competition itself runs through actual coursework, integrated into the CCS Poster Illustration class led by Professor and Department Chair of Illustration Don Kilpatrick. This little detail matters because it shows this isn't a side project or merely a publicity exercise; it's pedagogy. Students are learning to work under professional constraints and deliver something that will be seen by hundreds of thousands of people. This is an education in arts and design through doing.

The 2026 Detroit Grand Prix takes place May 29-31 on the streets of Downtown Detroit. Lee's winning design will be refined for print over the coming weeks before the final, official poster reveal in early May.