This month, check out nationwide design salaries, Get Out the Vote posters, advice from AIGA professionals and proposed curriculum requirements:

You can help get out the vote!

AIGA members—including many design students—created more than 200 nonpartisan posters for the 2012 “Get Out the Vote” campaign. Download your favorites to hang around your campus or neighborhood this month to help extend the effort! And if you’ll be in New York this fall, be sure to stop by the exhibition at the AIGA National Design Center through November 30.

How you can use the salary survey

The 2012 AIGA | Aquent Survey of Design Salaries is a useful tool for students: It allows you to compare compensation across different positions, company sizes, organization types and geographic locations. Log in to designsalaries.aiga.org to see industry trends, use the members-only salary calculator and learn what designers are earning across the country.

Advice from your local chapter

AIGA chapters are producing resources that can help emerging designers in new ways. Visit AIGA Raleigh’s Students and Emerging Designers blog, a new collaborative blog providing advice and resources for emerging designers, and listen to AIGA Pittsburgh’s Creative Briefs, a new biweekly podcast series focusing on what inspires creative professionals.

What are employers looking for?

AIGA is developing educational criteria for design programs based on the competencies design studios and design departments are seeking in candidates. Although many programs do not yet focus on these outcomes, and emerging designers often learn key skills at their first job or internship, it’s a good idea to begin thinking about these issues—and talking with faculty advisors.