Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia and Samsung to be honored at AIGA Design Legends Gala

NEW YORK, May 8, 2007. AIGA recognizes Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia and Samsung as the recipients of its 2007 Corporate Leadership Awards. The awards will be presented at the fourth annual Design Legends Gala to be held on September 19 in New York City.

AIGA’s Corporate Leadership Award was established in 1980 to recognize perceptive, forward-thinking organizations that place a premium on design and play an instrumental role in the advancement of design by adhering to its highest standards as a matter of policy. The recipients of this award demonstrate respect for the millions whose lives they touch and a rare commitment to consistency and quality, and also serve as models for the successful interaction between aesthetics and pragmatics.

Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia is recognized for its dedication to creative living, by making the ideas, tools and methods of everyday design both accessible and practical through its TV programs, videos and magazines, including the recently launched Blueprint and Body+Soul.

Samsung is recognized for developing consumer electronics and new technologies that improve the quality of lives through innovative design and engineering—in the form of products ranging from the sleek BlackJack smartphone to the FP-T5894W, the first wireless plasma TV.

“Now more than ever, the most successful companies in the world are realizing that true differentiation can not be made without design as a part of the equation. As a result, design has taken a big seat at the boardroom table, and organizations such as MSLO and Samsung are making an even bigger difference—and impact—in the global marketplace,” says Debbie Millman, AIGA national board member and chair of the awards.

More than 500 leaders of design, creative, business and education organizations from around the world are expected to attend this glamorous event, which benefits the ongoing celebration of design excellence. Funds raised at this year’s Gala will benefit the AIGA American Design Archives, the Worldstudio AIGA Scholarship program, AIGA’s Diversity Archive and the Legacy endowment to secure the future of the organization.

Tickets are available online. A very limited number of press passes will be available to the event.

About AIGA
AIGA, the professional association for design, is the oldest and largest membership association for design professionals engaged in the discipline, practice and culture of designing. Its mission is to advance designing as a professional craft, strategic tool and vital cultural force.

The organization was founded as the American Institute of Graphic Arts in 1914. Since then, it has become the preeminent professional association for communication designers, broadly defined. In the past decade, designers have increasingly been involved in creating value for clients (whether public or business) through applying design thinking to complex problems, even when the outcomes may be more strategic, multidimensional and conceptual than what most would consider traditional communication design. AIGA now represents more than 19,000 designers of all disciplines through national activities and local programs developed by more than 55 chapters and 200 student groups.

AIGA supports the interests of professionals, educators and students who are engaged in the process of designing. The association is committed to stimulating thinking about design, demonstrating the value of design, and empowering success for designers throughout the arc of their careers.

More information may be found at www.aiga.org.

For further information, please contact:
Katie English
AIGA | the professional association for design
Tel 212 710 3136   Fax 212 807 1799
katie_english@aiga.org