Monthly news and updates for AIGA
members
October 2005
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Contents
News and information
AIGA Design Conference successful!
Gala honors medalists, corporate leaders
Disaster Relief Task Force update
Call for topics, speakers for Gain:
AIGA Design and Business Conference
AIGA Action campaign
Design for Democracy: Major
federal projects
Members-only section on ICOGRADA website
Tax planning and AIGA
Recent contributors to the
Creative Leadership Campaign
www.aiga.org
AIGA Design Network: set up your
profile
New series: Paying your dues
Voice: AIGA
Journal of Design
Coming soon
DUX (Designing for User eXperience),
November 3–5
Design for New China Markets,
December 1–2
Save the dates
Resources
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News and information
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AIGA Design
Conference successful!
The AIGA Design Conference in Boston gathered 2,400 members of the design
community for two and a half days of celebrating design excellence, exploring
new ideas, catching up with old friends and meeting new colleagues. From
Murray Moss’s opening “Ten (or So) Objects I Really Like (Today),
Why” to Rep. Barney Frank’s thoughts on participating in a
civic society to Ellen Lupton’s observations on typography to Paula
Scher and Ben Karlin describing the process of designing “America
(The Book)”, participants reveled in thought-provoking, interesting,
important and motivating presentations and discussions. Yet, one of the
most memorable aspects of the conference was the sense of community that
comes from gathering with others who share values, ambitions and talents.
The post-conference website contains selected speaker presentations; podcasts of main-stage presentations and backstage interviews; sketches from R. Sikoryak, official conference illustrator; and selected sketches from the Sketchwall. A DVD of highlights from the conference will be mailed to all members in early 2006. designconference.aiga.org
Design Legends Gala
honors medalists, corporate leaders
The second annual AIGA Design Legends Gala celebrated 2005 Medalists Bart
Crosby, Meredith Davis and Steff Geissbuhler, as well as recipients of
the 2005 Corporate Leadership Award: The Gillette Company and Hallmark
Cards, Inc. More than 400 guests enjoyed an elegant evening with friends
and members of an extraordinary community. The event celebrates design’s
legacy through both honoring our heroes and offering an opportunity for
designers to contribute to protecting our shared legacy. The gala resulted
in raising $90,000 toward preserving the history of AIGA and the profession.
www.aiga.org/designlegendsgala
Disaster Relief
Task Force update
AIGA is currently supporting designers from all disciplines displaced
by the recent disasters in the Gulf Coast. We’ve already received
hundreds of responses from designers in need, as well as designers willing
to help. In order to consolidate resources and efforts, AIGA is working
in collaboration with Chopping Block to support Displaced Designer (www.displaceddesigner.com),
extending the reach and effectiveness of this initiative so that no designer
is left behind.
AIGA encourages designers who have been affected by the massive storm, both AIGA members and nonmembers, to visit Displaced Designer to request help or offer help. The site allows designers to match offers and needs for space, gear, work, cash and school resources.
The Society of Publication Designers, in wanting to help their colleagues, contributed $10,000 toward AIGA’s efforts, without strings attached, as the best means of helping all designers that were displaced. In addition, the following have made contributions totaling more than $7,000 to the AIGA Disaster Relief Fund:
Judy Glenzer
Shirley San-Shin Liu
Jeffrey Monahan
Maria Rendon
Leslie Worth
AIGA Las Vegas chapter
While AIGA was able to respond in days, we are determined to learn from this experience and our 9/11 experience to develop a disaster relief plan that can be implemented in hours in the future. The Katrina Relief Task Force will develop a disaster relief plan that will include action plans for AIGA, for chapters and for individual members, should we face another regional disaster. To get involved in helping to plan these materials, send email to relief@aiga.org to express your willingness and capacity to help make a difference. www.aiga.org/reliefeffort
Call for topics
and speakers for Gain: AIGA Business and Design Conference
If you have ideas on engaging, thoughtful and entertaining
speakers for the main stage of AIGA’s business conference in Fall
2006, please forward them by email to Michelle Stanek (michelle_stanek@aiga.org)
by December 15. Your recommendations should explain why the speaker or
topic is relevant and also provide information on contacting any recommended
speaker. The committee will consider initial recommendations by December
15, seeking to finalize the schedule early enough for members to make
decisions about attending.
AIGA Action campaign
As a result of strong encouragement from members and chapter
leaders, AIGA continues to initiate new projects in which we can demonstrate
the value of design through doing valuable things—valuable in the
sense that they advance pro-social, nonpartisan ideas that are important
to others in society.
AIGA recently partnered on “Inequality Matters,” a poster initiative with the Human Development Report Office of the United Nations Development Programme in anticipation of the 2005 World Summit. The Summit, held September 14–16, 2005, was the largest gathering of world leaders in history. Working with AIGA, Tom Geismar conceived and designed a series of posters that were displayed at the Summit, at the Design Conference in Boston and are currently available on the AIGA website.
We would like to invite members to contribute posters as well, so that we can spread the word together. Halving extreme poverty by 2015 is doable but will not happen unless government and civil society act to close the ever-widening disparity—between countries and within countries. We will ask all to spread the word by distributing the posters. The initiative will be similar to the Get Out the Vote project in that members will be able to contribute an 11" x 17" poster to the online gallery. More information will be forthcoming. www.aiga.org/inequalitymatters
The most recent campaign is based on Milton Glaser’s initiative at the AIGA Design Conference, “We are all Africans.” Milton’s image of a hand emerging into fingers of different ethnicities illustrates a common African origin which reminds us of our shared humanity and responsibility, as genocide and famine ravish Africa. The image has been produced as postcards and, with the support of the School of Visual Arts, on bus shelter posters at 250 sites in New York. The postcards will be available through AIGA chapters. www.aiga.org/content.cfm/action
Design
for Democracy: Major federal projects
Design for Democracy, a strategic initiative of AIGA and UPA (The Usability
Professionals’ Association), has been awarded two government contracts
to extend its successful work on redesigning the election process to election
officials nationwide. For the Election Assistance Commission, a team of
information designers and usability professionals will develop templates
for use by local officials in designing ballots. For the National Institute
of Standards and Technology, Design for Democracy will help in developing
standards for the election process. These projects continue to provide
designers with a chance to demonstrate the value of design in enhancing
democratic processes. Each of the projects will include providing guidance
on how to find locally qualified designers through AIGA chapters to implement
recommendations.
Members-only section
on Icograda website
AIGA has joined Icograda, the international organization
of design associations, as a means of helping members build relationships
with designers and businesses around the world. AIGA executive director
Ric Grefé participated in the recent Icograda summit in Copenhagen
and has been elected a vice president of the international board. AIGA
members now have access to the “Members Only” section of the
Icograda website, located at http://www.icograda.org/web/membersonly.shtml.
To retrieve the login information, AIGA members should visit www.aiga.org/aigamembersonly.
Tax planning
and AIGA
For those of you who are on a calendar year tax cycle
and are planning to make contributions to your preferred charities before
the end of December, please do not forget the role AIGA, as a 501(c)(3)
charitable organization, can play in advancing your future and the success
of subsequent generations of young designers.
Contributions to the Creative Leadership Campaign are encouraged and welcomed. The campaign raises funds for special initiatives, like mentoring high school students in design, preserving archives or celebrating great design. None of the funds are used for operating expenses.
Donations can be made out to “AIGA Creative Leadership Campaign” and sent to Creative Leadership Campaign, AIGA, 164 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010. We will provide a receipt and tax letter to document your contribution. www.aiga.org/giving_opportunities
Recent
contributors to the Creative Leadership Campaign
Thanks to the following recent contributors to the AIGA Creative Leadership
Campaign:
$1,000+
David Schimmel
$500-$999
Harold Huttas
Massimo and Lella Vignelli
Up to $500
Trudy Abadie-Fail
Larry Asher
Michael Bierut
Justin Carroll
Fred Cisneros
Annemarie Clark
Thomas Effler
Elaine Froehlich
Matthew J. Greenwell
Sylvia Harris
Robert Hayden
Linda L. Huber
Linda Hunt
Judy Kirpich
Mary Beth Kraus
Zoe Marin
Scott Mires
Sandy Mueller
Jennifer O'Neil
Bill Reuter
Beth Singer
Thomas Starr
Kathryn Wild
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www.aiga.org
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Find designers
with similar interests in AIGA Design Network
Now you can network with other AIGA members without leaving the comfort
of your own computer. Using the AIGA Design Network, you can find members
you already know and build relationships with members with similar professional
interests through an organization you know and trust. Start strengthening
existing connections and creating new ones today! www.aiga.org/designnetwork.
New series:
Paying your dues
This new series of articles, moderated by Petrula Vrontikis,
collects the personal stories of a number of successful designers telling
how they got their start in the design profession. Michael Bierut, Michael
Cronan, Armin Vit, Kelly Goto and others answer the question, “How
do you pay your dues without selling your soul?”
http://designforum.aiga.org/content.cfm?ContentAlias=%5Fgetfullarticle&aid=1326458
Voice: AIGA Journal
of Design
Voice has become a go-to place for lively, thoughtful articles
on design (and a few on what pops into the mind of designers, an intriguing
discovery!). Be sure you keep up with what has become a rich anthology
of engaging writing.
In the latest issue:
Design is the Cure for Medicare’s Ailments
Leslie Smolan
What good is information if it is not collated, edited and packaged for
easy access and understanding. Smolan reports on technology that exists
to make a better Medicare, but the results are not there yet.
http://voice.aiga.org/content.cfm?ContentAlias=%5Fgetfullarticle&aid=1334778
Little Nemo in Bookland: Interview with Peter Maresca
Steven Heller
What is the best way to preserve iconic art and design? Peter Maresca
talks about why he produced the world’s largest comic book commemorating
the world’s greatest comic strip.
http://voice.aiga.org/content.cfm?ContentAlias=%5Fgetfullarticle&aid=1330614
Beyond Small, Medium, and Large
William Longhauser
When everything is available instantly, why is it that so much remains
invisible? Longhauser uncovers the hidden figures that are letterforms
and spells out advice for increasing our awareness.
http://voice.aiga.org/content.cfm?ContentAlias=%5Fgetfullarticle&aid=1328535
Please join in the discussions and submit ideas for future issues at http://voice.aiga.org.
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Coming soon
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AIGA will offer several conferences and workshops for
professional development in the upcoming year.
DUX (Designing for User eXperience), November
3–5 - SOLD OUT
In collaboration with the ACM’s SIGCHI and SIGGRAPH, the
AIGA Experience Design community will offer a conference in San Francisco
on Designing for User eXperience in which design practitioners from multiple
disciplines and domain share case studies of their work which help illuminate
the question, What is good experience design and what factors contribute
to the creation of a success or failure? http://www.aiga.org/duxconference
Design in New China Markets, 50 percent
discount for AIGA members
AIGA members now have a special opportunity to begin to
discover the new markets developing in the powerful and growing Chinese
economy. AIGA is sponsoring “Design for New China Markets”
with the IIT Institute of Design, December 1–2, 2005 in Beijing.
Its purpose is to introduce members to the dynamics of working with firms
in China and to introduce Chinese firms with global interest to the value
created by design as part of business strategy, as practiced by leading
U.S. designers.
This event is limited in participation. Part of the reason for this is to help foster the development of a community of people who have interest in design in China. The conference will include a small, high-level group of about 150 people, half from China and half from the West. There will be tremendous value created by bringing together thought leaders from both sides of the ocean who are working to understand new markets and create meaningful innovations. http://www.id.iit.edu/events/china/
Save the dates:
Aspen Design Summit, June 20–23, Aspen aspendesignsummit.aiga.org
Icograda Design Week, July 9–15, Seattle www.aiga.org/icogradadesignweek
AIGA Harvard Business School: Business Perspectives for Design Leaders,
July 23–28, 2006 www.aiga.org/businessperspectives
Gain: AIGA Business and Design Conference, October 26–28, 2006,
New York City www.aiga.org/gainconference_06
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Resources
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Want to renew? Visit
www.aiga.org/renew.
Have you had a recent change of address? Update your profile, including email preferences and affiliation with communities of interest at www.aiga.org/profile.
Want to know what’s going on? Check out local and national events at www.aiga.org/calendar.
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