With #CamoCatch, the new Peugeot 3008 dons its summer outfit
The launch of the new Peugeot 3008 is fast approaching. It will take driving pleasure, electric performance and design creativity to a whole new level. While images of the vehicle's interior were unveiled in June 2023 – a glimpse at the futuristic Peugeot Panoramic i-COCKPIT® – the exterior is being kept secret until the big reveal in September. That's when you'll be able to find all the juicy details, right here in The Peugeot Magazine.
The new Peugeot panoramic i-COCKPIT®.
Before that, we'll send the new 3008 out on roads across Europe this summer for final testing. But here's the twist... It'll be camouflaged, so no one will be able to see its exterior in full until the launch. That's why we carried out the social media campaign #CamoCatch, to encourage our online fans to get involved in the exciting process of designing its disguise for the next few months.
#CamoCatch, the idea
Phil York, Peugeot's Marketing and Communications Director, tells us how the #CamoCatch operation came about:
"Now everyone has a smartphone. So a camouflaged car can easily be ‘snapped’ by anyone and posted on social media. As a camouflaged car is, by its nature, a head-turner, we thought it would be great to turn this constraint into an opportunity. Why not generate buzz and awareness for the new Peugeot 3008 before it is revealed?"
Aware that Peugeot's customers like to play the role of co-creators, Phil York and his team decided to involve them in a fun operation. The ten camouflage patterns our designers came up with were put to a vote. After some tough competition, we selected six designs.
Paint (Street Art theme)
Menthol (Optic Art theme)
Jazzy (Proto'type theme)
Neon (Street Art theme)
Marrakech (Optic Art theme)
Tokyo (Proto'type theme)
Back to the design process
Graphic designer for Peugeot Design, Mathieu Wandon, drew inspiration from three themes to create these motifs. The Art Optique theme, inspired by the dynamic patterns of the 1960s, the Street Art theme, often seen in fashion today, and the Graphic Design theme, which plays with unstructured letters and numbers without making them unreadable. He then came up with different variations and colour combinations.
To create designs that are both functional in terms of camouflage and aesthetically appealing, Wandon paid close attention to detail:
"When a designer imagines the design of a vehicle, they have to pay particular attention to managing the connections between the various parts that make up the object. In the case of camouflage, this notion is not important since the idea is to blur the lines of the silhouette, and we really had to concentrate on the graphic aspect of the whole."
For a designer, the idea of concealing a car's design while at the same time enhancing its visibility might seem like an impossible task. Wandon, on the contrary, saw it as an opportunity to express himself in a new way.
"We mustn't forget that the primary objective of camouflage... is to camouflage! And camouflaging lines doesn't mean camouflaging the whole object."
Peugeot is on a mission to strengthen their collaborations and partnerships with young artists and designers. The #CamoCatch operation was an excellent way of promoting Peugeot's design expertise – but Wandon had a slightly different motive in mind:
"The designer's job, compared to the artist's, is to make their creation industrialisable and therefore within the reach of as many people as possible. The common trait is, of course, creation, but the purpose of the object created is not the same, even if the two universes tend to get closer and closer, with the success of collaborations in all fields."
Win your place to preview the new Peugeot 3008!
The new camouflaged Peugeot 3008 will be rolling across Europe between 15th July and 15th August, 2023. If you come across it, don't miss your chance! Take a photo (not if you're driving, of course) and post your photo on your socials, mention #CamoCatch and tag @Peugeot. There will be a prize draw to decide the winners, and the lucky ones will be invited to preview the all-new vehicle in early 2023. So, smartphones at the ready!
