Monthly news and updates for AIGA members
May 2002
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Contents
News and information
"Gain" conference
focus is "Beyond branding"
3,500 grads enter the workforce
365: AIGA Year in Design shipping to professional members
2002 Salary Survey results now available online
Hall of Shame-violators of restrictions on use of directory
AIGA plans co-publishing partnerships
AIGA faces significant budget cuts
www.aiga.org
Tools to manage your relationship with AIGA
Coming soon
Fifth Annual Advance for Design Summit, July 11-13
"Grow: AIGA Professional Development Seminar Series"
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News and information
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"Gain" conference focus is "Beyond branding"
The focus of "Gain: AIGA Business and Design
Conference" will be "Beyond branding," the question
on everyone's minds as we anticipate the building of momentum
within the economy. A broader sense of brand strategy and design
was a driver in the design economy after the last recession in
the mid 1990s. Now the term seems tired to many, yet we know
that the fundamental principles are now a mainstay of many design
assignments.
At "Gain," designers, strategists and clients will explore what new dimensions will be required of brand design assignments in the immediate future, based on what we have all learned over the past several years. The timing could not be more perfect-it should come just as companies are beginning to plan for renewed consumer demand. Are you ready?
"Gain" moderator, "Marketplace" host David Brancaccio will be joined by the following luminaries:
Susan Avarde, director, Global Branding, CitiGroup Consumer
Businesses
Barbara Barry, president, Barbara Barry Inc.
Allison Johnson, senior vice president, Global Brand and Communications,
Hewlett-Packard Company
Virginia Postrel, business writer and columnist for New York
Times
Markus Schaefer, OMA/AMO Rem Koolhaas
Maggie Shea, director, Account Management, Fallon Worldwide
Lillian Svec, director, User Experience, walmart.com
Keith Yamashita, principal, Stone Yamashita Partners
Gain: AIGA National Business and Design Conference 2002, October 25-27, 2002, Minneapolis
To register yourself (for $550) and your client (for $250), visit the "Gain" conference site today!
3,500 grads enter the workforce
There were 18,000 students enrolled in BFA design
courses (the full range of communication design courses, regardless
of what they are called), with 3,500 graduating and entering
the workforce last year (2001), based on a survey of all schools
of art and design conducted by National Association of Schools
of Art and Design (NASAD). At the MFA level, there were 750 enrolled,
with 250 who graduated.
While this does not include the graduates of two year programs who may be seeking entry-level positions or those who are studying design in BA programs, it is still well below the number that has been quoted in recent years, with no known source (other than occasionally a suggestion that it was AIGA), of 40,000-60,000 new design graduates a year. Based on government and private survey data, AIGA estimates that there are approximately 160,000 graphic designers in practice today (with an additional 320,000 involved in design functions without the full training of a professional designer). This means that the workforce is growing at a rate under 5 percent a year, which is a reasonable rate despite the current tightness in the design economy.
It also suggests that AIGA's student membership could be as high as 25 percent of design students.
365: AIGA Year in Design shipping
to professional members
365: AIGA Year in Design will be shipped to professional
members in late June.
Associate and student members may order a copy of 365: Year in Design online, as may professional members who joined on or after January 1, 2002 (this group of professionals will receive the annual for this year's competitions, published early next year, rather than the one that is currently being mailed).
2002 Salary Survey results now available
online
Professional and associate members should receive
a printed copy of the AIGA|Aquent Survey of Design Salaries 2002
by early June. Topline
data are available on the AIGA website and AIGA members can
access the complete survey results.
Hall of Shame-violators of restrictions
on use of directory
AIGA does not sell or trade its members' addresses.
We are firm in this commitment.
When we receive word from a member that our web directory of members has been purloined for commercial purposes, in violation of the conditions for its use that are clearly stated on the search page, we will immediately pursue the violation and take legal action, if appropriate. Our most powerful sanction, however, is to bring to all members' attention that a particular firm has demonstrated blatant disregard for fundamental principles of integrity and respect. We suggest that members be extremely careful in considering doing business with these firms that violate legal or ethical principles.
Recently we received complaints from members receiving unsolicited email from John DeVeaux@theUrbanVoyager.com, offering freelance web design work. When we brought to his attention that mining the AIGA member directory for commercial solicitation violated the conditions of use, he acknowledged the practice and challenged us:
"I have used this approach for the past year in generating my business leads from a wide range of website databases, such as your own and I will continue to do so for the remainder of my career."
We urge members to use extreme caution in working with a firm that defies your privacy rights so blatantly.
AIGA plans co-publishing partnerships
AIGA has entered into an agreement with New Riders
publishing and is negotiating a relationship with Allworth Press
to co-publish a limited number of books on issues at the forefront
of critical thinking about design. These relationships, which
may also be negotiated with other publishers, will permit deeply
discounted rates on selected titles. The online bookstores will
be available on the web by fall and co-published titles will
be available periodically.
AIGA faces significant budget cuts
The current state of the economy has affected AIGA
as well as many design practices. While membership renewal rates
have held firm, understandably new members have not been joining
at the same rate as in the past several years (although our membership
of 16,000 still represents double that of seven years ago and
the strongest support of any of the visual design organizations).
Sponsors are feeling challenged by the times and all design conferences
are seeing reduced registrations.
We believe that it is more important than ever for members to stay active, since now is precisely the time the sense of community, the network and the connection with ideas about design excellence and practice are so important. This year's competitions received more entries than ever before, signaling the continuing importance of AIGA and its role within the community.
We believe the economy will begin recovering later this year and the design economy will pick up after a slightly longer lag. In the meantime, we have tried to increase the services available to members to support efficient business practices in a downturn, through such new services as the AIGA Design:Business newsletter.
However, the postponement of "Voice: AIGA National Design Conference" last fall resulted in a $500,000 shortfall in revenues for this year; we are projecting no growth in membership this fall and reduction of support from other sources. We have taken steps early to reduce expenses so that your association's fundamental assets and capabilities are not put at risk, as one often sees in associations that wait too long to introduce financial discipline. We have reduced our staff by about 25 percent and cut our expenses by about 10 percent across the board.
Inevitably this will have an impact on the nature of some customer services, for which we ask your understanding and support. We have protected what we understand are your highest priorities. Fortunately, the greatest asset AIGA has is the volunteer leadership and participation of members across the country and this will continue to define the level of activities. We will also benefit from our investment in our web presence, which allows us to provide strong member support efficiently and to sustain our publishing activities. As the economy turns around, we too will be growing again.
We will report on any specific program changes after consulting with chapter leaders in June and prior to the start of our new fiscal year in October.
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www.aiga.org
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Tools to manage your relationship with AIGA
Did you know you can use your AIGA login ID and password
to:
· Update your contact information (www.aiga.org/profile)
· Change your login ID and password
· Customize your profile for listing in the online Designer
Directory
· Renew your membership
· Register for conferences and events
· Contribute to Design Forum
· Review e-newsletter archives (Communiqué,
AIGA Design:Business)
· Post your resume on Design Jobs
· Review full results of 2002 salary survey
Don't know your login information? Use the "send me my login information" link to receive your login ID and password by e-mail.
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Coming soon
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Fifth Annual Advance for Design Summit, July 11-13
AIGA Experience Design, a community of interest for
those interested and/or involved in interaction design, will
hold its fifth annual summit in Las Vegas, July 11-13. This year
finds members of the community at a moment of dramatic change.
"Many of us have been reinventing ourselves and our practices post-bubble. Our fundamental skills (assets) enable us to give form (visual, structural, behavioral and social) to ideas, mediate and facilitate, relate solutions to problems and opportunities and make things understandable, accessible, useful, usable and desirable.
This year, we will discuss and explore how Experience Design can be better integrated into business to maximize our assets and integrate our insights, processes and values to build and sustain successful business. We will discuss how experience designers of all kinds can better collaborate with other team members and co-workers to be more effective. We'll concentrate on strategies for the future, and of course, we'll continue our tradition of Show & Tells."
Find out more about the summit
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.
August 910, 2002 - Cleveland
September 2728, 2002 - Los Angeles
December 67, 2002 - New York
For more information and to register, visit www.aiga.org/grow
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About Communiqué
This newsletter is e-mailed monthly to AIGA members;
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AIGA
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Graphic Arts
164 Fifth Avenue New York NY 10010 | 212 807 1990
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