2008 Press Releases

AIGA participates in summit to explore U.S. national design policy

NEW YORK, November 26, 2008. This November, leaders representing the major U.S. professional design organizations, design education accreditation organizations, and Federal government design assembled in Washington, D.C., to develop a blueprint for a U.S. national design policy. Richard Grefé, AIGA executive director, was in attendance to represent AIGA’s members and the design community at large.

Process

United by a shared vision of design’s integral role in the U.S.’s economic competitiveness and democratic governance, the group developed more than:

  • 70 proposals to support design promotion for economic competitiveness
  • 40 proposals to support innovation policy for economic competitiveness
  • 60 proposals to support design standards for democratic governance
  • 80 proposals to support policy as designed (i.e., the role of design in the formation, understanding and implementation of policy) for democratic governance

The group ranked proposals by their value to the American people and design communities as well as their operational and political feasibility. Brad McConnell, economic adviser in the Office of U.S. Senator Dick Durbin, of Illinois, helped the group determine political feasibility within the context of President-elect Barack Obama’s incoming administration.

Outcome

The group concluded the Summit with the proposal of several immediate action steps for developing a U.S. national design policy:

  1. Re-establish the American Design Council to serve as a unified body representing all U.S. design fields. The “American Design Council” is a name for which AIGA holds the trademark and will be revitalized as a collective voice for the design community.
  2. Create a report of the Summit as the first publication of the American Design Council.
  3. Seek support to develop a U.S. version of the British HM Treasury Cox Review on the contribution of creative industries to the British economy.
  4. Encourage and support the NEA in proposing a U.S. National Design Assembly in 2010 and Federal Design Improvement Program in 2011, similar to the activities to revitalize federal design standards and implementation in the 1970s.
  5. Develop at least one case study from each design field that uses both effective storytelling and triple bottom-line metrics (economic, social and environmental impact) to demonstrate the value of design.
  6. Invite captains of industry who demonstrate the value of design to provide testimonials and demonstrations of the value of design.
  7. Propose a holistic design award encompassing all the design disciplines and supported by all the organizations that will represent the highest honor in American design, perhaps extending the frequency (from every 10 years to every year) and the prestige of the Presidential Design Awards.

Participants

Organized by Dr. Eliabeth (Dori) Tunstall, Associate Professor of Design Anthropology at the University of Illinois at Chicago, the U.S. National Design Summit participants included:

From design profession membership organizations
  • Richard Grefé, Executive Director, AIGA, the professional association for design
  • Paul Mendelsohn, Vice President, Government and Community Relations, American Institute of Architects
  • Leslie Gallery Dilworth, Executive Director, Society for Environmental Graphic Design
  • Deanna Waldron, Director of Government and Public Affairs, American Society of Interior Designers
  • Earl Powell, Lifelong Fellow and President Emeritus, Design Management Institute
  • Frank Tyneski, Executive Director, Industrial Designers Society of America
  • Allison Levy, Managing Director of Government and Regulatory Affairs, International Interior Design Association
  • Paul Sherman, President, Usability Professionals Association
From design education accreditation bodies
  • Catherine Armour, National Board Member, Association of Independent Colleges of Art and Design
  • Holly Mattson, Executive Director, Council for Interior Design Accreditation
  • Samuel Hope, Executive Director, National Association for Schools of Art and Design
From U.S. federal agencies
  • Clark Wilson, Sr. Urban Designer/Environmental Protection Specialist, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
  • Frank Giblin, Director Urban Development Program, U.S. General Services Administration
  • Janice Sterling, Director of Creative Services, U.S. Government Printing Office
  • Ronald Keeney, Assistant Director of Creative Services, U.S. Government Printing Office
Summit facilitators
  • Renata Graw, principal, Plural, UIC MFA 2008
  • Siobhan Gregory, MFA student in industrial design at UIC
  • Alicia Kuri Alamillo, MFA student in graphic design at UIC
  • Matthew Muñoz, principal, Design Heals, NCSU MFA 2008
  • Sean Burgess, IDSA
  • Tim Adkins, IDSA

About AIGA

AIGA, the professional association for design, is the premier place for design—to discover it, discuss it, understand it, appreciate it, be inspired by it.

AIGA’s mission is to advance designing as a professional craft, strategic tool and vital cultural force. AIGA stimulates thinking about design through journals, conferences, competitions and exhibitions; demonstrates the value of design to business, the public and government officials; and empowers the success of designers at each stage of their careers by providing invaluable educational and social resources.

Founded in 1914, AIGA remains the oldest and largest professional membership organization for design. AIGA now represents more than 22,000 design professionals, educators and students through national activities and local programs developed by 62 chapters and 240 student groups. AIGA is a nonprofit, 501(c)(3) educational institution.

For further information, please contact:
Jennifer Bender
Communications coordinator
AIGA | the professional association for design
Tel 212 807 1990   Fax 212 807 1799