Monthly news and updates for AIGA members
December 2001

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Contents
News and information
  Holiday greetings from AIGA
  365: AIGA Design Competitions entry deadline is March 8, 2002
  New York New Visions final report now available
  Call for nominations to the AIGA national board
www.aiga.org
 Loop 4: 2001 annual of student projects
  Complete your online profile to participate in improved directory
Advocacy updates
  Design criteria for election reform legislation
Coming soon
  "Voice"-March 21­23, 2002, Washington, D.C.
  "Gain: AIGA Business and Design Conference," October 25-27,
    2002, Minneapolis
  Call for Papers: AIGA Experience Design partners with SIGCHI

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News and information
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Holiday greetings from AIGA
The staff at AIGA would like to extend the warmest of holiday greetings to you. While the past year brought us all some significant challenges, we are proud of all we have managed to accomplish together with local members and chapters. We look forward to an exciting and rewarding year in 2002.

In response to the events of the past several months, our offices and gallery will be closed from December 24 to January 2 to give our staff a chance to spend a little bit of extra time with family this year.

365: AIGA Design Competitions entry deadline is March 8, 2002
Lana Rigsby, principal of Rigsby Design in Houston, is chairing this year's "365: AIGA Annual Design Competitions." In an effort to refine the restructuring process started in 2001, Lana has consulted with past jurors and proposed several changes. Under the umbrella of "365," the discrete competitions in 2002 will include:

  • Typographic design
  • Illustration
  • Book design: 50 Books/50 Covers
  • Editorial design
  • Corporate communications design
  • Information design
  • Environmental design
  • Package design
  • Design for film and television
  • Experience design
  • Promotional design and advertising
  • Brand and identity systems design
  • Comprehensive brand strategies

The deadline for entering "365: AIGA Annual Design Competitions" is March 8, 2002. Save-the-date postcards for each competition were mailed this week; post them wherever it makes sense to remind yourself and your colleagues of the opportunity to enter. The call for entries will be posted on the AIGA website by the end of December and the brochure will be mailed in early January.

If you are in New York in the new year, make sure you stop by the AIGA gallery to see last year's selections, in an exhibition designed by Two Twelve Associates. The exhibition runs through April 26, 2002.

New York New Visions final report now available
AIGA has been one of the leaders among 20 design organizations (architects, planners, designers) in New York City to develop policy guidelines for elected officials planning the rebuilding of lower Manhattan. The final report from this unprecedented coalition effort is being delivered to federal, state and city officials this week, and press coverage will be sought. The report, which calls for use of environmental design as a critical contribution to the visual vitality and effectiveness of the urban experience, is available at www.newyorknewvisions.com, which is being maintained by AIGA.

AIGA's involvement in social issues helps to reinforce the importance of design to the public and decisionmakers in areas important to them.

Call for nominations to the AIGA national board
The national board nominating committee, chaired by Janet DeDonato of Methodologie in Seattle, is looking for nominations, to be submitted by January 15, 2002. Each nomination must be accompanied by a bio on the nominee and a statement on the role the nominee would like to play as a board member. Nominations may be submitted by fax (212 807 1799) or e-mail (nominations@aiga.org).

Returning committee members are Steve Pattee (Pattee Design, Des Moines) and Lana Rigsby (Rigsby Design, Houston). Also on the committee are David Brown (Los Angeles), Meredith Davis (North Carolina State University), Joseph Michael Essex (Essex Two, Chicago). The committee will prepare a slate of four names to be approved by the professional membership via web balloting next spring. Considerations will include geographic region, background and training, areas of expertise, etc. The committee is charged with developing a slate that complements rather than duplicates the attributes of existing board members.

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www.aiga.org
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Loop 4: 2001 annual of student projects
The fourth issue of Loop, launching in late December, is devoted to descriptions of student projects carried out in a range of education programs. The intention of this issue is to create a snapshot of the current state of teaching in interactive media, inviting faculty and graduate students to submit their best work from the past two years.

Most of the projects represented are conceptually and technically complex. Each project includes a written description, screen shots and working prototype wherever possible. While only a small number of entries are completely finished projects and others exist only in forms that are limited to particular computer platforms and configurations, Loop 4 represents an opportunity to discover the innovative design projects that have always made our student presentations at conferences well-attended events. Visit Loop 4 at loop.aiga.org

Complete your online profile to participate in improved directory
About 200 members have completed their online profiles since last month, in preparation for adding new search criteria to the online Designer Directory in mid-January. The more detailed search criteria will allow potential clients to search for members by areas of practice. If someone is looking for a designer to do an annual report in Des Moines, and that designer hasn't added "annual reports" to her profile, she won't show up in the search results.

In addition to specifying your areas of practice, you can now elect to receive Communiqué and other AIGA e-news as text rather than HTML, indicate that you agree to adhere to the AIGA Standards of Professional Practice and include a personal statement for people to read when they find you in the directory. Go to www.aiga.org/profile You will need your AIGA login and ID (use the "Send my login information" link if you can't find yours).

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Advocacy updates
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Design criteria for election reform legislation
Election reform legislation has passed the House and there is now the possibility that a compromise bill will emerge from the Senate in February or March. In that case, we will attempt to get our language on design criteria for the voting process into the legislation in the conference committee. At that time, we will seek help from members in urging their members of Congress to support the language. Keep current at legislation.aiga.org.

AIGA is also working with the Federal Election Commission to help its staff develop the needs and opportunities for a best practices guidebook on ballot design for local officials. This scope of work is also expected to set standards for the voting experience.

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Coming soon
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"Voice"-March 21­23, 2002, Washington, D.C.
"Voice," AIGA's ninth biennial National Design Conference, is just three months away! Come to Washington, D.C. in March and hear from culture-shaping critical thinkers and visual practitioners as they debate the moral, social and political dimensions in their work.

Make sure you arrive in time to take part in the AIGA D.C. Design Studio Tours and visit a number of the city's finest design firms. At each studio you'll hear from the principal about studio ethos, check out award-winning work, the interior design and talk to employees over refreshments. The Alexandria tour will visit Grafik, Studio A, Carter-Cosgrove, Fuszion and Staples/Charles; the Washington tour will visit Gensler, Threespot, Kinetik/Kitchen K and Beth Singer Design. All this and a guided overview of the design highlights in the most interesting D.C. neighborhoods. Buses for either tour depart from the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel on Thursday, March 21 at 8:30 a.m. and 1:00 p.m.

Then, be inspired by the passion and conviction of The Simpsons' creator Matt Groening, übercool designer Stefan Sagmeister, cult author Dave Eggers and socially-engaged artist Alfredo Jaar. Author, journalist and media guru Pete Hamill will be the keynote, kick-starting the conference with astute political analysis and Peabody Award-winning journalist John Hockenberry will moderate the fast and furious proceedings in the main stage arena.

Voice your own concerns and experiences in 16 breakout sessions, as collectively the design community reaffirms and redefines our role and relevance in new contexts. Mostly, come to reconnect with your friends and colleagues-more than a thousand of the world's most engaged and motivated designers.

Confirmed speakers include:

Jonathan Barnbrook, designer of Mason and Exocet fonts and Damien Hirst collaborator
Burkey Belser, designer of nutrition label used on 6 billion products
Dave Eggers, designer, author and editor of McSweeney's
Ken Garland, originator of the first "First Things First" manifesto
Milton Glaser, IheartNY designer
Matt Groening, "The Simpsons'" creator
Fernando Gutiérrez, Pentagram partner and Colors creative director
Pete Hamill, journalist, author and one-time graphic designer
Sylvia Harris, design planner responsible for redesign of Census
John Hockenberry, Peabody Award-winning journalist and "Voice" moderator extraordinaire
Alfredo Jaar, MacArthur Fellow Award-winning artist, architect and filmmaker
Natalie Jeremijenko, information visualizer, technoartist and educator
Brenda Laurel, digital diva and author of Utopian Entrepreneur
George Lewis, jazz composer, musician and critic
James Nachtwey, legendary "anti-war" Magnum photographer
Stefan Sagmeister, music graphics designer and body engraver
Paula Scher, Pentagram partner and 2001 AIGA medalist
Thievery Corporation, D.C.'s hottest DJs mixing bossa nova, jazz and dub beats
Shawn Wolfe, anti-branding graphic designer and Beatkit™ inventor
Duke Ellington High School jazz choir and band

For all conference updates, venue and registration information, visit http://www.voice.aiga.org

"Gain: AIGA Business and Design Conference," October 25­27, 2002, Minneapolis
Register online for AIGA's fifth biennial business conference before January 15, 2002 and save $100 off the conference early bird rate (offer applies to AIGA members only)!

AIGA members
Special pre-early bird offer (until January 15, 2002): $475
Early bird rate (until April 1, 2002): $575
Regular rate: $725

Nonmembers
Early bird rate (until April 1, 2002): $750
Regular rate: $900

Speakers to be announced early in 2002.

Program chair: Bill Grant, president, Grant Design Collaborative
Core advisory committee: Nancye Green, head, Global Branding, Zurich Financial Services; Michael Jager, cofounder, Jager Di Paola Kemp Design; Steve Liska, president, Liska + Associates, Inc.; James Searing, director, Strategic Service Development, Ernst and Young LLP; Ann Willoughby, president, Willoughby Design Group.

Find out more about the "Gain" conference

Call for Papers: AIGA Experience Design partners with SIGCHI
The AIGA Experience Design community is co-sponsoring CHI2002|AIGA Experience Design Forum with CHI2002, April 21-22, 2002, in Minneapolis.

The Forum is dedicated to exploring how the knowledge and skills from each community contribute to current thinking and innovations in the world of human-computer interaction and experience design. An independent two-day event, the Forum will take place immediately preceding the CHI2002 technical program and does not require attendance at other CHI2002 events.

The Forum committee is currently seeking case study submissions of recent design projects that represent current thinking and innovations in the world of human-computer interaction.

For more information, download the Call For Papers/submission instructions from http://www.formandcontent.net/chi2002/forum.htm or http://www.sigchi.org/chi2002/

The accepted cases will launch the AIGA Experience Design Case Study Archive, the goal of which is to finally establish a literature for the community. Find out more about the AIGA Experience Design community.


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