National events

Each year, AIGA members develop and produce more than 1,000 local events through AIGA chapters across the country, including design lectures, portfolio reviews, networking sessions, competitions, exhibitions and studio tours—see the Events section for upcoming events near you. To augment these local activities, AIGA produces national events to support all members:

Upcoming events

	Head, Heart, Hand: AIGA Design Conference 2013 Join us in Minneapolis as we kick off AIGA’s centennial and explore three dimensions of modern design practice: Head (design thinking or strategy), heart (design for social impact), and hand (design as craft).
	Business Perspectives for Creative Leaders “Business Perspectives” is a certificate course held each July for senior-level design professionals, which draws on the strength of Yale School of Management faculty to advance attendees’ business knowledge in one intensive week.

Past events

	Bright Lights: The AIGA Awards Gala 2013 On April 19, designers gathered in New York City for the annual “Bright Lights” celebration to honor the extraordinary lives and careers of AIGA Medalists, whose exemplary work has inspired and defined the profession.
	Blunt: AIGA Design Educators Conference In April 2013, the AIGA Design Educators Community met in Norfolk, Virgina for "Blunt: Explicit and Graphic Design Criticism Now" to address the discourse of criticism in design, critique aspects of graphic design practice, and present or propose methods of critical thought.
	Geographics: AIGA Design Educators Conference In December 2012, the AIGA Design Educators Community met in Honolulu, Hawaii for "Geographics: design, education and the transnational terrain" to share examples of transnational design programs, research, and projects.
	2012 Design for Good Summits PepsiCo Nutrition Ventures partnered with AIGA and local chapters to host three Design for Good Summits, bringing together design professionals and civic leaders to develop innovative solutions to community-specific problems related to dietary guidance and lifestyle management.
	Gain: AIGA Design for Social Value Conference 2012 At the “Gain” conference in San Francisco, design and social innovation leaders shared their visionary approaches to creating social value. Presenters demonstrated the broadening role design plays in institutional strategy, leadership, process and service, product and message, and how the creative attributes of designers provide special advantages to tackling socially relevant projects and enhancing the human experience.
	Bright Lights: The AIGA Awards 2012 AIGA’s design community gathered in New York City on April 19, 2012 for the second annual “Bright Lights” celebration, honoring the extraordinary lives and careers of four AIGA Medalists: Ralph Caplan, Elaine Lustig Cohen, Armin Hofmann and Robert Vogele. See videos from this event.
	Pivot: AIGA Design Conference 2011 At the 2011 “Pivot” conference in Phoenix, attendees explored the shifts in design as a practice, thought process and force for change. Presenters included Stuart Candy, Valerie Casey, Allan Chochinov, Karl Heiselman, Jonathan Hoefler, Terry Irwin, Katie Salen and Jakob Trollbäck, and the third season of “Command X” was a crowd favorite. View videos from “Pivot.”
	Alabama Design Summit The invitational Alabama Design Summit brought designers, issue experts and community leaders together in 2011 for an intensive workshop to design solutions to problems that challenge the quality of life. Watch the video.
	Bright Lights: The AIGA Awards “Bright Lights” 2011 took place in New York City to honor the 2010 AIGA Medalists Steve Frykholm, John Maeda and Jennifer Morla, as well as Corporate Leadership Award recipients Method and Tiffany & Co. View videos from this event.
	New Contexts/New Practices At the 2010 Design Educators Conference held at North Carolina State University in Raleigh, participants worked to generate and publish ideas about how design education will address the defining trends of contemporary practice and culture. Read the articles.
	Gain: AIGA Design and Business Conference 2010 Creative and corporate innovators gathered in New York City to share how they use design to tackle business challenges. Moderator: Paola Antonelli. Speakers: Dr. Naif Al-Mutawa, David C. Baker, David Droga, Erica Eden, Karin Fong, Robert Hammond, Jonathan Harris, Larry Keeley, John Maeda, Su Mathews, Clint McClain, Marije Vogelzang. View presentations.
	response_ability In 2010 at the AIGA Design Educators Conference in Toldedo, Ohio, attendees participated in ongoing dialogue and debate about design ethics, sustainability and design education. Speakers: Rick Poynor, Nathan Shedroff, Barbara Sudick, Robyn Waxman, Rick Valicenti.
	Make/Think: AIGA Design Conference 2009 In Memphis, “Make/Think” took on the dueling dynamics for designers as creators and strategists. Moderator: Kurt Andersen. Speakers: Al Bell, Ethan Bodnar and Charles Harrison, Stefan Bucher, David Butler, Elizabeth Coleman, Daniel Eatock, Carin Goldberg, Nick Law, Roger Martin, Melissa Mayer, Stefan Sagmeister. View presentations.
	Aspen Design Summit The 2009 invitational Aspen Design Summit brought designers, issue experts and community leaders together for an intensive workshop to design solutions to problems that challenge the quality of life.
	Future History 3 Design educators gathered in Chicago in 2009 to explore current and future curricular challenges and innovations. Speakers: Sol Sender, Scott Thomas, Carol Coletta, Meredith Davis, Sheila Levrant de Bretteville, Gerard Hadders and Ewan Lentjes, Kenya Hara. Keynote speaker: W.J.T. Mitchell.
	Gain: AIGA Business and Design Conference 2008 In October 2008 in New York City, the biennial “Gain” shared success stories from business and design leaders. Speakers included Gail Anderson, Phyllis Aragaki, Chris Bower and Udaya Patnaik, Michael Conforti, Heidi Dangelmaier, Stephen Doyle and Gael Towey, Luis Fitch, Malcolm Gladwell, Laura Granka, Chris Hacker, Bart Houlahan, Michael Jager, Marcia Lausen, Jonah Lehrer, Grant McCracken, Yolanda Santosa, Jeffrey Zeldman. Watch the 2008 videos.
	Social Studies: Educating Designers in a Connected World From October 17–19, 2008, in Baltimore, this AIGA design educators conference addressed the social life of design.
	Image, Space, Object 5: People Centered Design: Tools & Inspiration The fifth Rocky Mountain/High Ground Workshop in partnership with AIGA was held August 7-10, 2008 on “People Centered Design: Tools & Inspiration”. Speakers: Chris Conley, Hugh Dubberly, Hugh Graham, Michael Arnold Mages, Michael McCoy, Katherine McCoy, Sigi Moeslinger, Fred Murrell, Melody Roberts, Dr. Rick Robinson, Masamichi Udagawa, Tucker Viemiester.
	Massaging Media 2: Graphic Design Education in the Age of Dynamic Media On April 4–6, 2008, in Boston, diverse presenters and attendees explored how design education is being affected by dynamic media.
	AIGA Design Conference 2007: Next On October 11–14, 2007, more than 2,000 great minds met in Denver to explore the value of design and answer the question: what’s next?
	Image, Space, Object 4: People Centered Brand Experiences The fourth Rocky Mountain/High Ground Workshop in partnership with AIGA was held August 9-12, 2007 on “People Centered Brand Experiences”. Speakers: Connie Birdsall, Chris Conley, Hugh Dubberly, Hugh Graham, Michael Arnold Mages, Katherine McCoy, Michael McCoy, Bill Moggridge, Dr. Rick Robinson, Tucker Viemiester.
	Intent/Content Held May 31–June 2, 2007, in Nashville, “Intent/Content” focused on discovery, integration, application and teaching.
	Schools of Thoughts 3 On March 9–11, 2007, at Art Center College of Design, Pasadena, educators took on the dramatically changing terrain of graphic design.
	Gain: AIGA Business and Design Conference 2006 October 26–28, 2006 “Design means business“ was the theme of the seventh biennial business and design conference, moderated by Tom Kelley (IDEO).
	Image, Space, Object 3: Above Brand The third Rocky Mountain/High Ground Workshop in partnership with AIGA was held August 10-13, 2006 on “Above Brand”. Speakers: Chris Conley, Moira Cullen, Hugh Dubberly, Hugh Graham, Chris Hacker, Blake Mourer, Amy Siegel and Harry Spetnagel, Dr. Rick Robinson, Tucker Viemeister.
	AIGA Design Conference 2005: Design “Design,” held in Boston, September 15–18, 2005, celebrated design excellence, creativity and community. Listen to audio presentations on the conference site.
	Image, Space, Object 2: An inspiring week of learning, interaction and creation The second Rocky Mountain/High Ground Workshop in partnership with AIGA was held August 23-27, 2005. Image, Space, Object 2 was a unique workshop where designers of all disciplines came together to learn collaborative methods and develop new design languages for compelling physical and communication experiences.
	Gain: AIGA Business and Design Conference 2004 The sixth biennial ”Gain,“ held in New York City, October 1-3, 2004, demonstrated the value of designing as a strategic process that adds value to business.
	Image, Space, Object: An inspiring week of learning, interaction and creation A Rocky Mountain/High Ground Workshop in partnership with AIGA was held August 7-13, 2004. Image, Space, Object was a unique workshop where designers of all disciplines came together to learn collaborative methods and develop new design languages for compelling physical and communication experiences.
	AIGA Design Conference 2003: The Power of Design “The Power of Design,” held in Vancouver, October 23–26, 2003, focused on 21st-century design opportunities. Select presentations available on the site.
	Gain: AIGA Business and Design Conference 2002 The fifth biennial business and design conference, held in Minneapolis, October 25–27, 2002, asked, and answered, “What difference can design make to the bottom line?”
	AIGA Design Conference 2002: Voice “Voice,” held October 21–23, 2002, in Washington D.C., focused on the political and social agency of design. Transcripts and highlights are available on the conference site.
	Risk/Reward: AIGA Business and Design Conference 2000 AIGA’s fourth biennial business and design conference was held October 6–8, 2000 at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco. Speakers: Hilary Billings, Ayse Birsel, Bill Cahan, Frank O. Gehry, Richard Koshalek, Peter Lawrence, P. Kelly Mooney, Marty Neumeier, David Stuart. Moderator: David Brown.
	A Tradition Over Time: AIGA Design Conference, 1985-2003 Created for the 2005 conference which was held in Boston, this Flash timeline celebrates the rich history of the AIGA Design Conference through oral tradition.