The founder of Kansas City’s Willoughby Design shares insights on positioning the company to design for a gender-balanced world, the importance of educating clients about the value of design and what studios must do to retain their best workers in 2015 and beyond.

The founder and CEO of Brooklyn creative agency Big Spaceship responds to the question: “Dad, what’s design?”

Despite the connectedness of the current business world, aspiring design professionals face new challenges in the age-old problem of getting noticed, especially by the elite practitioners. George Nelson’s wit and insights helped me understand design as both a serious profession and a creative adventure. Here are a few of his choice observations and some thoughts on the special relationship we know as mentoring.

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.

It’s rare for American audiences to have access to the wealth of graphic design that is currently being created in Iran. Recently, a team of designers, writers and scholars have convened to curate a collection of contemporary Iranian design and exhibit it in the United States.

All around us, we see organizations and communities that need to change. The job for design is everywhere. I would like the people who come through our design education program to become embedded in thousands of places, helping our species evolve from selfish users of resources to expanders and creators of resources. And for that, while there is no “studio” involved, we hope you join us.