AIGA Communique - Summer 2003

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	Monthly news and updates for AIGA members Summer 2003 -------------------------------------------------------------- Contents News and information Join 2,000 of your colleagues at “The Power of Design” conference National board nominating committee appointed 2004 AIGA Medal committee appointed AIGA leadership refines strategy for organization AIGA wins another award Inaugural AIGA Harvard Business School program stunning success www.aiga.org How your membership dollars are spent Competition selections online AIGA republishes British Design Council studies on sustainable design Advocacy Design for Democracy awarded Sappi Ideas the Matter grant; board selected Coming soon Save the dates! Next “Gain” and National Design Conferences Formal notice of national board meeting Resources --------------------------------------------------------------- News and information --------------------------------------------------------------- Join 2,000 of your colleagues at “The Power of Design” conference “The Power of Design” conference is eight short weeks away and bound to be one of the most important opportunities to adapt to a new business and social environment for design. The speaker list is complete; biographies of speakers and descriptions of all presentations are available at powerofdesign.aiga.org. The content will be thought-provoking, stimulating and inspiring. The parties are already the talk of Vancouver. And every designer deserves the reaffirmation of a great gathering, a chance to join colleagues, commiserate about the economy and celebrate the profession. The program deals with the power of Design in addressing the truly important issues of our day. If you wonder if these issues are actually larger than your typical practice, consider a recent article from Stanford Business School’s journal, in which the role of NGOs (nongovernmental organizations) and corporations are dealing with social responsibility. It is in this realm where the designer can represent a strategic asset for a client and a cause www.gsb.stanford.edu/news/bmag/sbsm0308/feature_face_off.shtml#top If you haven’t registered yet, make sure you act now to reserve your seat. Check that your passport is current. Book your hotel; the AIGA rates are valid only through September 26 and the Pan Pacific Hotel is already sold out at the conference rate. You must register by October 1 to be included in the attendee directory. Watch your mail for the conference brochure designed by Ph.D, Santa Monica. It’s a twofer: a brochure and a poster. Be sure to unwrap your brochure and pin up your poster where your colleagues can discover an extraordinary roster of speakers. All members should receive the brochure by the middle of September. And as you make your plans, make sure to check out the online culture guide, designed by Brooke Mackay, Seattle. The culture guide is your source for everything you need to know about getting to Vancouver, as well as what’s worth coming early and staying late for! As a result of the overwhelming early registration of students for the conference, student registration rates for “The Power of Design” conference were closed at the end of July. The number of students who can register at the reduced student rate in a national design conference is limited for two reasons: so that the character of the conference continues to reflect the perspective and interaction of experienced designers, which is one of the distinguishing characteristics for professionals, students and sponsors; and because the student rate is set at about half what the conference costs per person for AIGA. Without a balance of attendees, including those who pay the full fee, it would not be possible to put the conference on for anyone. More than 400 students have already registered; AIGA still welcomes student participation at the member rate; we simply cannot offer more seats at the deeply discounted student rate. National board nominating committee appointed The nominating committee for the national board has been selected: Bill Grant, former national board member and Atlanta chapter president, Grant Design Collaborative, chair; Ann Harakawa, principal, 212 Associates/Harakawa, New York; Maria Grillo, Grillo Design, Chicago; Tamera Lawrence, former Washington, D.C. chapter president, AM PM Design; Tan Le, former Seattle chapter president, Grip; and Cheryl Heller, former national and New York chapter board member, Heller Communications, Inc. The committee will have an organizational meeting early in the fall and then will solicit nominations from all professional members. Remember, if you do not nominate someone who meets your criteria for the national board, you diminish the credibility of any concerns you have when a board does not represent the mix of professionals you think it should contain. So please watch for the nominating process and participate. 2004 AIGA Medal committee appointed The AIGA Medal committee for 2004 will include Stephen Doyle, Doyle Partners, New York, chair; Martha Scotford, NCSU, Raleigh; Michael Mabry, Michael Mabry Design, San Francisco; and Pat Samata, SamataMason, Chicago. Later this fall, the committee will invite nominations of professionals you believe deserve the AIGA Medal, so start making your list now. The 2003 medalists will be honored at the Vancouver conference. The medalists selected by the 2004 committee will be honored in New York in Fall 2004. AIGA leadership refines strategy for organization Last January, AIGA shared with all members the strategy that emerged from last year’s leadership retreat, focusing on ways to increase business’ understanding of the value of design. At this year’s summer leadership retreat (which includes board members from every chapter and the national board), the strategy was refined and focused, with the purpose of clarifying the kinds of activities through which we could make progress based on volunteer task forces from members nationwide. The strategy has been tightened up and redundancies have been reduced. We have begun to assign volunteers. National board members will take the lead in developing a scope of work for each activity and a schedule, which will be presented at the board meeting in October in Vancouver. We will then share this plan with all members and again encourage each of you to get involved in these activities at the local or national level. The refined strategy is available online in AIGA’s Design Forum. AIGA wins another award “365: AIGA Annual Design Exhibition 23,” designed by Gensler Studio 585, New York, was selected in the “Exhibitions” section of this year’s Communication Arts competition. The winners will be published in CA’s Design Annual #44, scheduled for distribution in November. AIGA thanks outgoing board members AIGA is fortunate that each year, fifteen remarkably dedicated and insightful members commit the time to lead the institution. The national board is not an honorific recognition; it is a time-consuming responsibility that calls on each member to take on special assignments. This year, five members who have made lasting contributions left the board at the end of June. John Chuang, CEO of Aquent, brought the insight of a national partner to the board table and served as a thoughtful advisor on business strategy and partnership relationships. Bill Grant, Grant Design Collaborative in Atlanta, has contributed leadership, yet has backed it up with design, production and financial contributions. Bill has been active in the design competitions, sponsorship solicitations and communicating AIGA’s messages consistently and well to outside audiences. He took on the considerable challenge of serving as program and creative director for “Gain: AIGA Business and Design Conference,” held in Minneapolis in October 2002 and has been the creative force behind the AIGA Design Business and Ethics series. John Maeda, MIT Media Lab, Cambridge, consistently reset discussion of strategic and tactical plans to a perspective far beyond the conventional vantage point. Sam Shelton, KINETIK Communication Graphics, Washington, D.C., served as AIGA secretary/treasurer for the past two years, contributing perspective, incisive analysis and sound counsel toward AIGA operations. In a wonderful legacy project, Sam left us with a clear means of communicating to members how their dues are spent (see "How your membership dollars are spent" below). As an advocate for AIGA’s role in helping studios with the practical challenges they face, Sam worked with AIGA chapters and David Baker to offer a series of business development seminars (“Grow”), and has developed the content on professional practices for AIGA’s Design Forum. Petrula Vrontikis, Vrontikis Design Office, Los Angeles, has been a consistent and solid advocate for educators and student members, always pursuing opportunities to enhance the AIGA experience for these members. Petrula spearheaded the development of the well-received Transitions e-newsletter for students and has worked on student activities at AIGA national design conferences. Inaugural AIGA Harvard Business School program a success During the second week of August, forty-seven designers launched what will become an annual weeklong executive education program: AIGA Harvard Business School “Business Perspectives for Design Leaders.” The program, taught by Harvard Business School faculty using case studies and lectures, was immersion course in the way CEOs and other C-level executives see business problems. This is one element in a deliberate AIGA strategy of increasing the credibility of designers at the client’s strategy table. Virtually every attendee left the program with both a fresh appreciation of what they had not previously understood about business perspectives and deep new knowledge. Two reported a fundamentally changed relationship with prospective clients in the very next week. Others were stunned by the intensity of being pushed hard to explore unfamiliar territory in finance, strategy, marketing, communication and technology for five full days and evenings. And one was simply grateful for the opportunity: “Thanks for the opportunity; I thought the only way I would ever see the inside of a Harvard classroom was by delivering the pizza!” Watch for the announcement for next year’s program. This will become a regular AIGA Harvard Business School summer institute the second week of August each year. To see the content of the experience and a list of attendees, visit www.exed.hbs.edu/program/aiga2003/ User name: aigavisitor Domain: hbsi.hbs.edu Password: design --------------------------------------------------------------- www.aiga.org --------------------------------------------------------------- How your membership dollars are spent Over the years, the board has tried to find the best way of communicating to members how their dues are invested to benefit the profession. Former national board treasurer Sam Shelton and a team at KINETIK Communication Graphics have finally developed a Flash presentation to tell the story behind the numbers that chapter leaders feel is effective. Some key points: $275 is less than many other professional associations charge. Even in tough economic times, AIGA has been able to raise $2 from other sources for every $1 in membership dues. In the final analysis, the value of membership cannot be considered without the intangible benefits, which include networking, information, communication and advocacy on your behalf. See the presentation at www.aiga.org/membershipinvestment AIGA competition selections published online AIGA is adapting its competition publication process to provide a more rapid publishing of selections on the website, even as the printed annual is in process. Each year, we try to accelerate publication of 365: AIGA Year in Design, yet the production is extremely difficult to advance. Each year the designer is convinced he or she can advance the schedule only to discover the challenge of obtaining examples of selection appropriate for photography from studios, directing photography, obtaining complete problem statements and caption information for each piece, designing and printing the book. As a result, AIGA is placing a higher priority on publishing all selections as quickly as possible on the website. In many respects, this is a more critical publication format: it is timely and it is easy for studios to refer clients (and mothers) to the website. Selections from “365: AIGA Annual Design Competitions 24” are now online. Read the project descriptions and view images and full credits for selections in each of 13 categories. AIGA republishes British Design Council studies on sustainable design AIGA has republished two groundbreaking studies by the British Design Council. A survey of over 600 European companies shows how business is embracing sustainable design as a way of gaining competitive advantage. A collection of case studies shows how good design can prevent crime. AIGA will continue to collaborate with the Design Council to bring members information and resources that explore global trends as well as innovations and best practices. These case studies can be effective means of reinforcing the value of design to clients. powerofdesign.aiga.org/content.cfm/sustainability_research --------------------------------------------------------------- Advocacy --------------------------------------------------------------- Design for Democracy awarded Sappi Ideas the Matter grant; board selected Sappi Fine Papers has announced a major grant to Design for Democracy, AIGA’s initiative to improve the quality of election experience, in order to publish a book of graphic standards, with visual examples, to assist local officials in understanding the opportunities for clear communication. Marcia Lausen, former AIGA Chicago chapter president and design team leader for Design for Democracy, will be the principal author. Marcia and Ric Grefé, AIGA executive director, presented concepts of election design to state election officials from all fifty states and selected secretaries of state in Portland, Maine in late July. A number of officials expressed an interest in contacting local chapters about how they could work with local designers. Marcia and Ric will send out a follow up letter to all the attendees encouraging them to become involved with a list of chapter presidents. If you are contacted, we can discuss different ways in which we have found it to be productive to work with state officials and will provide all chapters with copies of the templates of work done to date. The most recent states to seek AIGA assistance are Texas and Michigan. A new board has been selected for Design for Democracy, which is a national AIGA initiative, yet separately incorporated. The initial board includes Ric Grefé, president; Sam Shelton, secretary/treasurer; Clement Mok; Stephen Melamid; Dori Tunstall; Sylvia Harris; Susan King Roth; Marcia Lausen; and Lance Rutter. Watch for a session on recent activities at the Power of Design, Vancouver. --------------------------------------------------------------- Coming soon --------------------------------------------------------------- Save the dates! Next “Gain” and National Design Conferences “Gain: AIGA Business and Design Conference” will be held September 30–October 2, 2004 in New York City. The next National Design Conference will be held September 15–17, 2005 in Boston, Massachusetts. Formal notice of national board meeting The next national board meeting will be held at the Pan Pacific Hotel in Vancouver, B.C., on October 26, 2003. --------------------------------------------------------------- Resources --------------------------------------------------------------- Want to renew? www.aiga.org/renew Want to register for “The Power of Design: AIGA National Design Conference”? http://powerofdesign.aiga.org Have you had a recent change of address? Update your profile, including e-mail 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. -------------------------------------------------------------- About Communiqué This newsletter is e-mailed monthly to AIGA members; past issues are archived on the AIGA website. To unsubscribe, update your profile or send an e-mail to communique@aiga.org with “unsubscribe” in the subject line. To review our privacy policy, go to www.aiga.org/privacy. -------------------------------------------------------------- AIGA \| American Institute of Graphic Arts 164 Fifth Avenue New York NY 10010 \| 212 807 1990 communique@aiga.org AIGA: stimulating thinking about design www.aiga.org