Monthly news and updates for AIGA members
September 2002
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Contents
News and information
Register for “Gain”
before rates increase on October 1
D>d
Preview of National Design
Conference in Vancouver
AIGA begins new fiscal
year focused on core priorities
Another reminder about
the AIGA affinity credit card
AIGA offers members discounts
on DMI workshops
“50 Books/50 Covers”
exhibition at AIGA National
Design Center
www.aiga.org
Your AIGA profile—www.aiga.org/profile
New
Design Forum node on “Cross-Cultural Design”
Advocacy
AIGA involved in efforts
to improve prescription drug information
Coming soon
Educator conferences sponsored
by AIGA and MeadWestvaco
“Grow:
AIGA Professional Development Seminar Series”
Deadline
for Environmental Leadership Award
entries—October 3
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News and information
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Register for “Gain” before rates increase
on October 1
“Gain: AIGA National Business and Design Conference,”
October 25–27, Minneapolis. Register now for “Gain” before
the fees increase by $150 on October 1.
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 conference is going to be one of the best AIGA has ever offered. And now, the new online Gain journal complements the conference by focusing on the intersection of design and business. Featuring interviews with leading thinkers as well as in-depth articles, Gain explores the process of design through real-world examples. For instance, check out the interview with “Gain” speaker Ivy Ross, senior vice president at Mattel, on collaboration in design:
“Designers need to engage their clients and coworkers creatively, to make them part of the creative process. They also need to let other people into the process and not try to own it. It’s like being in a jazz band. Everyone plays individual instruments. Then all the sudden you get into a zone and you’re playing together and building off each other and all the sudden you’ve created a piece of music that has just evolved. Everyone involved feels ownership at a very deep level. This way, designers don’t have to sell their idea to team members or the client. They were there at the conception. Designers should become creative catalysts within the organization.”
Read more at http://gain.aiga.org.
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. Register yourself (for $550 online) and your client (for $250) before October 1, when rates go up $150. www.gainconference.aiga.org
D>d
Watch for the implications of a shift in direction for AIGA, based
on what the national board has heard from members and chapter leaders.
We will focus increasingly on communicating the value of design to clients.
The identity “D>d” is short hand for “design with a big D”—considering
designing as a problem solving process (big D) that extends beyond narrowly
defined aspects of design (little d, or how some of us will try to precisely
define what we do by the artifacts we make).
This direction will be evident in new materials for members to use in communicating with clients and in the content of our traditional activities, like competitions and conferences.
Preview of the National Design Conference in
Vancouver
Save the dates now for the next AIGA Design Conference, October
23–26, 2003 in Vancouver.
“Shifting Perspectives” will focus on the extraordinary opportunities for designing in the 21st century. Design and designers will play critical roles in the success of our rebounding economy—both as agents of social change in a complex world and as leading architects of sustainable solutions for a troubled planet. You’ll hear speakers from diverse disciplines who work in a variety of media talk about designing for the economy, environment and culture. Join 2,000 designers for a stimulating 3 days of conversation, inspiration, discovery, provocation and—need we say it—fun in the beautiful city of Vancouver, British Columbia.
You can register now and take advantage of the early bird registration rate: www.aiga.org/design_conference_2003.
AIGA begins new fiscal year focused on core
priorities
AIGA begins its next budget year on October 1. We are intentionally
taking a very conservative approach, reducing services to the core activities
on which members place the highest value. While there may be a modest
effect on our response times or a reluctance to take on new initiatives
(even if they are great ideas), a conscientiously cautious approach will
help us weather any reduced revenues we might experience as a result of
a weak economy.
Fortunately, our members have remained very loyal and our renewal rates are actually ahead of last year. Nonetheless, it is difficult to recruit new members in this economy; our traditional sponsors have reduced their marketing budgets; attendance is down at design conferences across the country. AIGA will weather this recession in fine shape, although we are being responsible to avoid surprises.
Another reminder about the AIGA affinity credit
card
For a year and a half, we have been able to offer an AIGA affinity
credit card to members through a partnership with MBNA. MBNA has exclusive,
approved access to AIGA’s membership list for this program only. Consistent
with AIGA policy, the membership list has not been sold or traded to MBNA
for its unrestricted use. In this case, we have partnered with MBNA in
response to members’ interest in our achieving higher public visibility
for AIGA; MBNA was the most highly recommended and the most willing to
work with us in limiting the marketing.
Since AIGA often has access to design studio or business phone numbers only, many of the telemarketing calls will be made to these locations. If there is any problem with taking the call at the office, please don’t hesitate to ask MBNA to remove your name from the call list.
We want to encourage members to use the card so that the AIGA logo gains visibility as it is handed across the counter in establishments across the country. To get the card, call 800 847 7378 and mention priority code AESS.
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:
“Creating the Perfect Design Brief,” October 3–4, Washington,
DC
“Managing Innovation and Creativity,” October 11–12,
Chicago
“Proven Tactics for Marketing Your Message,” November
13–14, Boston
“Developing a Brand Identity Strategy,” November 14–15,
San Francisco
“Brand Management Principles,” December 5–6,
Atlanta
This DMI seminar is available to AIGA members at the DMI member rate. For more information, point your browser to www.dmi.org/seminars. To register, download the PDF registration form, write in "AIGA member" and fax in the registration. Or, call DMI at 617 338 6380 and place the registration over the phone.
“50 Books/50 Covers” exhibition at AIGA National
Design Center
If you’re in New York, don’t miss this year’s “50 Books/50 Covers”
exhibition on display at the AIGA National Design Center until October
25. Designed by Chermayeff & Geismar, New York, the exhibition presents
the winners of this year’s book design competition.
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www.aiga.org
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Your AIGA profile—www.aiga.org/profile
Did you know you can now join a number
of communities of interest by updating your profile? AIGA Experience Design,
AIGA Illustration, AIGA Typography and AIGA Design Education are growing
communities of professional and student members sharing common interests.
Find out more at www.aiga.org/interestgroups
and sign up at www.aiga.org/profile.
About one in ten professional and associate members have indicated their areas of interest in their profile. Only by completing your profile does the Designer Directory become a useful resource for the public in finding a designer to take on a new project.
We are particularly interested in having all professionals who teach full time or part time indicate their status in their profiles so we can work with you to improve design education.
New Design Forum node on “Cross-Cultural
Design,” moderated by Christopher Liechty
The intersection of design
and culture is a place where both the local and the global have a voice.
This Design Forum discussion has been established to look at the ways
we as designers communicate across cultures as well as the interwoven
experience of design and culture in our lives. The “Cross-Cultural
Design” node on Design Forum is a place to share ideas, examples
and experiences as well as provide U.S. designers with a portal to the
global design community. Technology, mass media and a global economy have
made the world smaller and the issues of cross-cultural design primary
to the design profession. We hope to enable greater participation and
more active citizenship by U.S. designers in the global design community.
We welcome you to join us! http://designforum.aiga.org/
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Advocacy
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AIGA involved in efforts to improve prescription
drug information
AIGA assembled an expert panel in
Boston last week to work on the attributes the Federal Drug Administration
and manufacturers should consider in creating print and digital versions
of the patient package insert (PPI), that tiny folded piece of paper swollen
with information displayed densely in a microfont and stuffed into the
box of your prescription drug. We plan to develop a design brief over
the next several weeks and work with a manufacturer in seeking FDA consideration
of a prototype to improve on comprehension among the many audiences for
the drug.
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Coming soon
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Educator conferences sponsored by AIGA and MeadWestvaco
Educators have a number of chances
to attend special programming this fall:
“FutureHistory,” AIGA Chicago Regional
Education Conference, October 11–12
“Educating
the Design Educator,” a design education conference for educators
and graduate students of all design disciplines, San Francisco, October
12
“Schools
of Thoughts,” Los Angeles, October 18–20
For more information, visit www.aiga.org/regionaleducatorconferences.
“Grow: AIGA Professional Practice Seminar
Series”
AIGA, in partnership with chapters across the U.S., has hosted
a series of “Grow” seminars with David C. Baker from ReCourses,
Inc. over the past year. One set of sessions is left, December 6–7
in New York City. 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.
For more information and to register, visit www.aiga.org/grow.
Deadline for Environmental Leadership Award
entries—October 3
One environmentally friendly design project isn’t going
to save the world—but it’s a start. Every day graphic designers
are making decisions that have a positive impact on the environment. In
recognition of these efforts, AIGA San Francisco presents the Environmental
Leadership Award, a design competition and a vehicle to raise awareness
of environmental responsibility in the graphic design profession. It showcases
solutions to reduce the negative environmental impact of paper, ink, chemicals
and other materials used in our profession. Pieces will be judged on design
excellence and environmentally responsible production. This year’s
jurors include AIGA Medalist Michael Vanderbyl; Anne Telford, managing
editor of Communication Arts; and Jim Ales, art director of the
Monterey Bay Aquarium. For more information about the competition and
to download entry forms please visit the AIGA San Francisco website at
www.aigasf.org. Deadline for entries
is October 3, 2002.
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