AIGA Communique - August 2002

Monthly news and updates for AIGA members
August 2002

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Contents
News and information
   Why “Gain” is an important conference for you
   AIGA offers members discounts on DMI workshops
   AIGA co-publishes new titles on experience design
www.aiga.org
   New Gain online journal to launch soon
Coming soon
   “Grow: AIGA Professional Development Seminar Series”
   “Boundaries: AIGA Brand Experience Workshop,” Sept. 27–28
   “Schools of Thoughts,” October 18–20, Los Angeles

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News and information
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Why “Gain” is an important conference for you
"Gain: AIGA National Business and Design Conference," October 25–27, Minneapolis

We know times are tough right now, yet when the design economy has revived (and it will!), you will benefit from having thought about where business is going, not where it is has been. You will need to be a fresh, positive, smart contributor to your next big client’s own recovery strategy. And you will need to have great ideas in doing it in a collaborative fashion.

Invest now, when you can afford the time, to push your thinking “beyond branding.” It will help to separate you from your competitors and it will put you into a small, interactive environment with corporate clients to test your thinking and ideas.

This is going to be a great conference; don’t miss it! Visit the “Gain” conference site today for the preliminary schedule, including all speakers and their topics. www.gainconference.aiga.org

AIGA offers members discounts on DMI workshops
AIGA has entered into a relationship with DMI to offer its workshops on design management issues to AIGA members at the DMI member discount. AIGA continues to look for ways to strengthen professional development opportunities for designers in areas of business and ethics—how to work more effectively and how to add greater economic value to your clients. Upcoming workshops include:

Developing a Brand Identity Strategy, September 18–19, Chicago
Managing the Corporate Design Department, September 19–20, Boston
Brand Management Principles, September 26–27, Boston
Creating the Perfect Design Brief, October 3–4, Washington, DC
Managing Innovation and Creativity, October 11–12, Chicago

AIGA co-publishes new titles on experience design
In pursuit of its role in stimulating thinking about design, AIGA is co-publishing a number of books with commercial publishers that we think are important in revealing points of view on the evolving fundamentals of design, the new thresholds in design practice and interesting designer experiences. These books may deal with practice or theory.

The first five titles in a venture with New Riders are:

Experience Design, by Nathan Shedroff
MTIV: Process, Inspiration and Practice for the New Media Designer, by Hillman Curtis
Train of Thoughts: Designing the Effective Web Experience, by John Lenker
Pause & Effect: The Art of Interactive Narrative, by Mark Meadows
Designing Web Usability: The Practice of Simplicity, by Jakob Nielsen

We continue our traditional co-publishing venture with Allworth, which has presented, among other titles:

Looking Closer series
AIGA Professional Practices in Graphic Design

In most cases, the books represent an extension of our conferences and journals by featuring work we would present in those forms. The books will feature either the AIGA logo on the spine or a sticker announcing the AIGA Book Selection on the cover. Both publishers offer discount programs for our members. Visit www.aiga.org/bookstore

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www.aiga.org
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New Gain online journal to launch soon
The new online journal Gain will launch in mid-September. This new version of the Gain publication will explore the area of design and business and compliment the upcoming "Gain" conference. The site features interviews with conference speakers and an in-depth exploration of design innovation. A column by AIGA legal counsel Frank Martinez provides answers to questions on intellectual property and more.

Set your sites on http://gain.aiga.org

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Coming soon
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“Grow: AIGA Professional Practice Seminar Series”
AIGA, in partnership with chapters across the U.S., will host a series of “Grow” seminars with David C. Baker from ReCourses, Inc. Each half-day session—specifically tailored for design managers, studio principals, senior designers, art directors and business development people—will be four hours long and will feature topics to help grow your design business responsibly.

Topics include: Taking Care of Clients; Positioning and Marketing Your Services; Being a Good Manager; and Monitoring and Benchmarking Your Practice. Attendance is limited to just 40 attendees per session.

September 27–28, 2002 - Los Angeles
December 6–7, 2002 - New York

For more information and to register, visit www.aiga.org/grow

“Boundaries: AIGA Brand Experience Workshop,” September 27–28
AIGA Brand Experience is holding a weekend workshop for a select group of 40 designers in the Willoughby Design Barn in Kansas City on September 27 and 28 to explore the boundaries where science, culture and economics intersect. In the Boundaries workshop, we will discuss the scope, reach and depth of the changes that are pushing the boundaries in the global economy. To be one of the select few, visit www.aiga.org/boundariesworkshop and register today.

“Schools of Thoughts,” October 18–20, Los Angeles
An intimate conference on graphic design education for design educators and grad students intending to teach. Limited to 140 participants. Sponsored by AIGA and MeadWestvaco.

When we talk about graphic design education are we all talking about the same idea and ideals of this profession? How do programs differ in their assumptions about not only how to educate designers, but what a professional practitioner contributes in today’s social, cultural, technological and economic context?

Is the designer the formgiver? The one who brings art to commerce? The problem solver? The content provider? The one who sets the strategy? The conceptualizer? The visual entrepreneur?

Is design about knowing software? Being visually literate? Being an artist? Having a voice? Craft? Technology? Media? Print? Knowing it all? Creating experiences through the use of sound, movement and interactivity? Are we generalists or specialists? How does education reflect and prepare students for these various ideas for practice?

This conference seeks to explore and engage the many ways in which graphic design is understood through the lenses of what we teach and what our goals are as educators. We will look from the macro to the micro—from classroom practices to the history of design education from the Bauhaus on.

The goal of this event is to inform, inspire, and provide plenty of “foods for thoughts” in order to better understand and think about our role as educators. For more information, visit www.aiga.org/educatorconferencela02

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About Communiqué
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