AIGA Aspen Design Summit

February 24, 2006: This June, AIGA, the professional association for design, and IDCA, the International Design Conference at Aspen, will bring design-minded leaders from around the world to Aspen, Colorado to make positive, measurable impacts on the global concerns of today. The Aspen Design Summit will take place Tuesday, June 20 through Friday, June 23, at the Aspen Meadows Resort.

This June, AIGA, the professional association for design, and IDCA, the International Design Conference at Aspen, will bring design-minded leaders from around the world to Aspen, Colorado to make positive, measurable impacts on the global concerns of today. The Aspen Design Summit will take place Tuesday, June 20 through Friday, June 23, at the Aspen Meadows Resort.

Over the past year, design has been at the forefront of many critical conversations. From its ability to aid the relief, recovery and prevention of environmental catastrophes, to the call for innovation as a competitive force in business, to the number of design-based sessions at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, design and design thinking have been proven as a viable tool for fostering wide-reaching change. As moderator John Thackara so eloquently frames the Summit:

"No longer defined by objects and aesthetics, we are moving towards a new era of design that places people firmly at its core."

Using the design studio as a model, featured presenters at the Aspen Design Summit will initiate challenges as "Aspen Action" items--much like a client would approach a designer with a project. Multi-disciplinary groups, lead by design industry leaders, will create and execute programs addressing these various social, economic and environmental issues. In this way, the Summit will also serve as an incubator and catalyst for strategic partnerships between design leaders and leaders from business, education, civic life and culture. Although only 340 attendees will be in Aspen, the implementation of their initiatives will be felt worldwide.

The Aspen Design Summit builds upon a legacy of progressive action. In 1951, Chicago industrialist Walter Paepcke brought together 250 designers, artists, engineers, business and industry leaders for the first International Design Conference at Aspen. The IDCA, along with the famed Aspen Institute and the Aspen Music Festival and School, grew out of Paepcke's philosophy. For over fifty years the Aspen Design Conference has positioned design as a tool to inform and inspire innovative leadership across society. This year, IDCA partnered with AIGA to expand the reach of the conference. AIGA Executive Director Ric Grefé describes the significance of this partnership:

"For over fifty years, IDCA has organized conferences that celebrate design and its role in business and society. Just as IDCA pioneered the concept of design conferences in the 20th century, the Aspen Design Summit will be a new type of gathering for this century, in which participants contribute actively to addressing global problems with creativity and thoughtfulness, aimed at actions that contribute to the human experience. IDCA and AIGA have partnered on this endeavor, joining the legacy of IDCA as an international and multi-disciplinary design force with the ongoing organizational strengths of AIGA."

This year's conference will be moderated by John Thackara of Doors of Perception. Thackara is renowned and respected internationally for his work as director of the design futures network, Doors of Perception. Thackara organizes collaborative innovation projects in which designers, technology innovators, and grass-roots innovators learn and work together in new ways. Thackara advises the Dutch government and is a former advisor to the Hong Kong Design Task Force. He has written 12 books and lectured in more than 40 countries. His most recent book, In the Bubble, Designing in a Complex World, has been influential in the social design movement: "At the heart of In the Bubble is a belief, informed by a wealth of real-world examples, that ethics and responsibility can inform design decisions without impeding social and technical innovation."

A complete list of presenters and studio leaders is available here, with more to be added upon confirmation.

More information, along with registration information, can be found at aspendesignsummit.aiga.org

Please contact Alissa Walker for interviews, bios and additional details.

AIGA, the professional association for design, is committed to furthering excellence in design as a broadly-defined discipline, strategic tool for business and cultural force. AIGA is the place design professionals turn to first to exchange ideas and information, participate in critical analysis and research and advance education and ethical practice. www.aiga.org