Icograda Design Week in Seattle

Promising to be highly informative and thought-provoking, Icograda Design Week in Seattle will be as important for designers already familiar with Icograda and its initiatives to attend as it will be for designers just beginning to learn about global design. This conference is particularly momentous because it marks the first time Icograda (International Council of Graphic Design Associations) will hold its International Design Conference in the United States. Its presence in the U.S. creates an excellent opportunity for more American designers than ever before to participate in the conference and to join an international discussion about the globalization of design, commerce, and society. Organized in partnership with the AIGA Center for Cross-cultural Design, Icograda Design Week in Seattle will be held July 14–15 at the University of Washington. The conference is the core event of Icograda Design Week (July 9–15), a week comprised of cross-cultural design events for professionals and students.

AIGA and Icograda

The U.S. conference celebrates AIGA’s new membership in Icograda. In May 2005 AIGA became the 91st professional association to join Icograda. Icograda’s professional and associate members represent the national design associations and promotional bodies in 49 countries. Founded in 1963, Icograda is a global, voluntary assembly of associations concerned with graphic design, visual communication, design management, design promotion, and design education. Icograda promotes graphic designers’ role in society and commerce worldwide. By ‘leading creatively’ through a diverse range of activities, Icograda seeks to use design as a medium for progressive change. AIGA CEO Ric Grefé provided the following background regarding AIGA’s relationship with Icograda. “Among AIGA members, there has always been a strong interest in the fluid transnational nature of design influences. And individual members and leaders of the profession regularly participated in Icograda events. During the late 1990s, AIGA did not actively pursue membership in Icograda for a variety of reasons: its highest priority was to invest in developing a foundation that would assure AIGA could grow; the Icograda fee formula was based on a per-member fee, without a cap, resulting in AIGA paying many times more than any other organization (even if only a small portion of the membership would benefit directly); the Icograda agenda did not appear to be adequately outward looking; and, given the size of the fees contribution, AIGA did not want to join unless it was prepared to be an active, long term participant, which we were not sure we could do if we did not invest in other activities first.” Grefé continued, “By 2005, many of these conditions had changed. AIGA was able to invest in becoming a member; the Icograda agenda developed a socially responsible character; the dues structure was changed to cap the amount the largest members would pay; and AIGA was ready to focus on two critical issues for the future of design everywhere, which are to deepen the understanding of design’s future within a global economy and to do it with sensitivity to the challenges of communicating across cultures.” In October 2005, Grefé, was elected to the Icograda Executive Board of Directors. In talking about the first conference to be held in the U.S. since joining Icograda, Grefé commented: "Design at its best uses words and images to increase understanding. Never has it been more important for designers to use their remarkable gifts to increase understanding across cultures." He continued, "AIGA is a committed member of Icograda, regarding it as a means of increasing the opportunities for designers from around the world to learn from each other and to expand their respective visions. Icograda Design Week in Seattle is a chance for AIGA designers to discover shared experiences and different points of view with designers confronting the challenges of communication everywhere.”

Conference Program

Christopher Liechty, President of the AIGA Center of Cross-cultural Design and a key organizer of the Icograda International Conference, commented on the significance of the conference, “Designers are interested in multi-cultural issues and looking for ways to prepare themselves to work in an international context. We look forward to a vigorous and thoughtful discussion about the role of design in an increasingly global marketplace.” “We designed this conference around two ideas,” Liechty continued, “First, how can we as designers prepare ourselves for the inevitable expansion of global markets? And second, if we participate, are we also participating in the evils of globalization—such as inadvertently supporting a country engaged in human rights violations or promoting a product which ends up changing a cultural tradition?” Presented in a single-track, main stage format, all conference attendees will participate in the same sessions and share the same experience. Program moderators will be Don Ryun Chang (Korea), Icograda's President Elect, and Pat Hansen (USA), Chair of the Speakers' Committee. The conference will offer attendees unparalleled opportunities to learn from and to interact with a roster of renowned international design practitioners. The speakers will address many of the most relevant and difficult issues designers face today as they design for an increasingly global, highly competitive marketplace. Each morning and afternoon session will offer an opportunity for the audience to ask questions of the speakers in a panel format. This conference also presents one of the first opportunities, following the Icograda board meeting in Montreal, to explore the board’s decision to expand the definition of design—changing from the traditional and limited phrase “graphic design” to the more open “communication design” which encompasses motion, sound, and other aspects of new media communication.

The Speakers

“Inclusivity and representativity are a strategic priority for Icograda,” stated Brenda Sanderson, Icograda Director. Commenting on conference speakers, she added, “The fact that we have so many southern hemisphere speakers is very important in giving voice to a different perspective on globalism. The gender balance is also critical and makes us different.”

The information and insights shared by conference speakers will give attendees, both veterans and novices, an invaluable understanding of the current state of worldwide design—one that would be almost impossible to gain any other way.

Special conference guest will be Sara Little Turnbull, current Director of the Stanford Process of Change Laboratory. Ms. Turnbull is an acclaimed design theorist, editor, educator, strategic planner, and development and design consultant to IDMM (Integrated Design for Marketing and Manufacturing). During the conference, Ms. Turnbull will be presented with the Icograda Achievement Award, the highest recognition granted by Icograda to designers for their contribution to graphic design. While the Icograda Excellence Award is typically granted to reward a piece of design work, the Icograda Achievement Award honors an outstanding career. This highly distinguished award, honors Ms. Turnbull’s lifetime of achievement and her contributions to design and her visionary efforts to encourage cultural understanding as an integral part of a successful design process. Conference keynote speaker will be Darrel Rhea, CEO of Cheskin, An Innovation Consulting Firm. As one of the first companies of its type, Cheskin was instrumental in developing research methodologies that effectively drive the design of products and brands. Featured in Malcolm Gladwell's New York Times bestseller Blink, Rhea is one of America's top strategic design consultants, with extensive experience leading industrial design, product development and innovation, graphic design, and brand identity creation initiatives. He is a Business Week Online columnist and co-author of Making Meaning: The Business of Experience Design. Other distinguished conference speakers include: Stanley Hainsworth, Global Creative Director, Starbucks Coffee Company, (USA) Adelia Borges, director and editor of Design & Interlores, (Brasil) Linda Fu, founder of Global iCom Counsulting and Linda Fu Design, (Australia) Esen Karol, typography instructor, Bilgi University, (Turkey) Mervyn Kurlansky, former Graphics Director of Planning Unit of Knoll International, and a co-founder of Pentagram, (Denmark) Saki Mafundikwa, founder of the Zimbabwe Institute of Vigital Arts (ZIVA), (Zimbabwe) Ravi Naidoo, founder and managing director, Interactive Africa, (South Africa) Sanja Rocco, graphic designer and art director, Rocco & Partner, (Croatia) Henry Steiner, founder, Steiner and Co., (Hong Kong) Omar Vulpinari, creative director, Visual Communication Department, Fabrica, (Italy)

Choosing Seattle

Recognized as a global center for commerce, invention, and innovative thinking, Seattle is home to many of the world’s largest and most influential corporations including Microsoft, Boeing, Adobe, Starbucks, Micron, and Amazon. Jacques Lange, Icograda President, explained how Seattle became the venue for this first Icograda Design Week in the U.S. “Seattle is an ideal location for our first U.S. Icograda Design Week. Geographically, it’s a middle ground to the Pacific Rim, Latin America and Europe, offering a unique perspective on global commerce and culture. We are excited to bring the global design community to Seattle.”

Forming Connections

This historic conference will bring together designers from many parts of the world. It will provide rare opportunities to form international connections with other designers who conference attendees be unlikely to otherwise meet. Designers from Africa, Asia, Australia, Canada, Europe, Latin American, the Middle East, as well as the U.S. are expected to attend. “Virtually all of the divisions of today’s world are created by lack of understanding of cultural differences. Communication design is the means of using words and images to improve understanding. If there is to be global harmony and civilized discourse it will depend on the success of creative people to communicate despite their differences.” –Ric Grefé _____________________ For more information about the conference, go to http://seattledesignweek.com _____________________ For more information about Icograda, go to http://www.icograda.org Thank you Christopher Liechty, Brenda Sanderson, Ric Grefé, Shelly Langton, Cindi Laws and Taxi Design Network for contributions to this article.