NEW YORK—May 14, 2013. AIGA’s Design Leaders Confidence Index was unchanged for the first quarter of 2013, at 101.62 compared to the previous quarter’s 101.72. While the aggregate number is not statistically different, there is optimism in the details.

As a mother of two and a full-time art director at Savage, I regularly battle the ups and downs of being a mom in a designer’s world. Although it can be overwhelming at times, it can also be highly rewarding. As everyone handles the balance in their own way, I’ve assembled some thoughts and advice for creative working mothers.

If instances of self-questioning about working in-house become a catalyst for self-doubt, why not redirect some of that energy toward constructive self-evaluation? We can’t count on having control over everything that affects our design careers, but we can establish focus, build accountability and develop a newfound sense of assurance about our professional trajectory in-house.

I’ve been an AIGA member since I moved to Raleigh in 2009, and in that time I have gained so much through what I have given to the chapter. As a chapter, our mission is to create a place where design thrives. What I found through my involvement with AIGA Raleigh is a place where I thrive, too.

Print is dying. Print is dead. The publishing business is toast. I can’t believe you don’t have a Kindle/iPad. Isn’t that bag too heavy with a hardcover book in it? Common refrains these days, especially here in the tech innovation center of the world: the Bay Area. And, wonderfully, the cool cats at McSweeney’s just...

Creative professionals with a concept that has the potential to ignite positive change are invited to apply for a “Design Ignites Change | AIGA Fellowship,” which provides seed funding and professional guidance.

As in-house designers, we often become immersed in our companies, causing us to lose perspective on our assignments and, more insidiously, on appropriate behaviors and ethics. Learn to identify if you’ve fallen prey to “brand blindness” and adopted the company culture wholesale, and use your creativity to improve the culture instead.