AIGA | AIGA Design Archives site relaunched and digital annual released to expand reach and inspiration

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AIGA Design Archives site relaunched and digital annual released to expand reach and inspiration

AIGA Design Archives online relaunches with new and improved functionality

Digital version of the annual, designed to help readers explore the Design Archives, is published today

NEW YORK, February 12, 2010. In an effort to address issues of sustainability, economics and reach, AIGA announced that this year's design annual, 365: AIGA Year in Design 30, has just been published in a digital edition. The release of this annual publication chronicling the best in communication and book design is timed to coincide with the relaunch of the AIGA Design Archives, a website featuring more than 20,000 examples of design excellence dating back to 1924.

New York- and Portland, Oregon-based designers Omnivore designed 365: AIGA Year in Design 30 as an interactive PDF, cataloguing the winning entries from AIGA's 2009 competitions and including multiple images, jurors' comments, designers' statements and credits. Each selection in the publication links directly to its respective entry in the AIGA Design Archives to encourage deeper exploration and discovery.

“We felt that an investment in improving the Design Archives—one of the richest online resources available to practitioners and appreciators of great design worldwide—would have a more significant impact on the design community,” said Richard Grefé, AIGA executive director. “The decision to not print an annual was driven partly by economic factors, but this way more people will now see the work in digital form than would have ever seen it in print.”

An introduction to AIGA Design Archives 2.0

Long a source of inspiration for designers, researchers, educators and students around the world, the AIGA Design Archives has just launched with a redesign by Second Story Interactive Studios (read the case study). While still the largest online collection of design excellence, the upgraded system now features easier and deeper searches, faster results, live filtering, improved navigation, new presentation modes and the ability to share inspiration on social networking sites.

The 365: AIGA Year in Design 30 PDF provides an entry point to exploring the new features in the AIGA Design Archives, where it's easy to find other work by the same designer, work for the same client, work in the same category and more. This one-of-a-kind archive stretches back nearly a century and includes communication design applied to all media, from the most traditional (books, posters, annual reports) to the most cutting edge (websites, interfaces, games, animations, motion graphics).

In addition to making it possible for screen-based works to be experienced as they were intended, going digital fulfills another AIGA imperative: to promote sustainability. “Releasing the publication this way fits with AIGA's commitment to sustainable design practices while still serving our members and serving our mission to advance designing as a professional craft and vital cultural force,” said Richard Grefé.

To learn more and view the publication, visit www.aiga.org/aiga-annual.

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 20,000 design professionals, educators and students through national activities and local programs developed by 64 chapters and 200 student groups. AIGA is a nonprofit, 501(c)(3) educational institution.

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

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