As shoppers, tourists, and New Yorkers hustle and bustle around Times Square in midtown Manhattan this holiday season, they are enchanted by the bright lights, colors, and magic of a rocket ship launching before their very eyes.

The red and white rocket ship careens through space, surrounded by meteors, planets, and stars, and somehow manages to jump right off the screen to greet passersby.

The co-creator of this digital rocket is Utah Valley University (UVU) graphic design student Evan West, who designed the 3D model with his wife, Ashley West, a student at Brigham Young University (BYU). Evan and Ashley were named the winners of the “Wonderbox Showcase,” a digital art competition sponsored by LG Electronics.

“When we saw our names on the screen announcing we had won, we were really excited,” West said. “You always kind of dream to see your name in lights at some point in your life, and I don't think either of us expected to see it that way. It was kind of surreal, and it hasn't quite set in yet.” The contest winner announcement took place Wednesday, Dec. 14, in New York City.

Evan and Ashley’s work will be displayed on LG’s Times Square billboard from mid-December to mid-January. Additionally, the couple will be bringing home $25,000 in prize money.

“Working together was a sweet spot of creativity because we could bounce off of each other and give really good feedback and really just change the project to go to a place that I wouldn't have taken it,” West said. “I'm glad we could work as a team.”

West expressed his gratitude for his professors at UVU in helping teach him the fundamentals of good design.

“The UVU Graphic Design program has some great professors,” he said. “Bob deWitt, who has since retired, really got me into 3D animation; Jonathan Bybee taught my first typography class; and Gareth Fry has been great in shaping how I see basic design principles. These are professors who have influenced me for good.”

Learn more about LG’s Wonderbox Competition.

Photo courtesty of  Evan West