AIGA Awards
Through distinctions such as the AIGA Medal, the Steven Heller Prize for Cultural Commentary, and the AIGA Corporate Leadership Award, the AIGA Awards recognize individuals and organizations whose influence extends far beyond design practice. Together, they represent the highest acknowledgement of excellence, innovation, and impact within the design community.
Meet the 2025 Jurors
The 2025 AIGA Awards Jury unites award-winning strategists, celebrated educators, cultural changemakers, and boundary-pushing creatives. Together, they bring a remarkable breadth of perspectives and expertise—building iconic brands, redefining design education, and using creativity as a force for cultural and civic impact.
Jae-eun Chung
Creative Director, RAA (Ralph Appelbaum Associates)
Jae-eun Chung is a Creative Director in RAA’s New York Studio. She is an accomplished creative leader with experience establishing design visions for institutional branding, exhibitions, visitor experiences, and public initiatives.
Most recently at Meta, Jae-eun played a pivotal role in shaping the company’s corporate art program, forming a global design team, and defining the future of art and technology within the organization. She has also led graphic design teams at global institutions such as the Guggenheim New York and Brooklyn Museum, driving projects across capital campaigns, educational programs, and building experiences.
Jae-eun holds an M.B.A. from Cornell University and a B.F.A. in Visual Communication Design from Seoul Women’s University in South Korea.
Lisa Maione
Principal/Designer at For Instance, a design studio | Associate Professor of Graphic Design, Kansas City Art Institute
Lisa J. Maione is a designer, artist and educator. Born in Tokyo, Japan and raised in California and Texas, her creative practice investigates the nature of the screen as a material and mode of perception in relationships between images, reading and memory. Her image research-based work has been exhibited nationally and internationally. She runs for instance, a design practice, working on collaborative projects in the arts, architecture, publishing and education.
Lisa holds an MFA and BFA in Graphic Design from Rhode Island School of Design and a post-graduate certificate in Typeface Design from Type@Cooper NYC.
Reggie Tidwell
Partner, 40 Hearts
Reggie is an award-winning designer/strategist and Partner at 40 Hearts, a branding agency creating enduring value. A BFA in graphic design has fueled Reggie’s 27 year career of nationally recognized expertise in branding, design and commercial photography. His primary focus is helping businesses and organizations effectively connect with their audiences and in many cases, change the world.
A mentor with a strong belief in community service, Reggie is the founding president of AIGA Asheville. He is currently serving on the organization’s National Board and spearheading a committee of design heroes tasked to help secure the organization’s thriving future. He also serves on the Board of the art coalition for Arts AVL.
Rob Harrigan
Experience Design Lead, JP MorganChase
Rob Harrigan works in experience design at JPMorgan Chase, tackling design system evolution and product strategy across the bank’s digital platforms. Over 21 years, he’s designed everything from IBM Watson experiences that generated $6B in business impact to visual craft frameworks that elevated Meta’s global product teams.
His work thrives in the ambiguous space between brand and product—making complex technology actually work for people. At IBM, he turned AI research into business tools. At Meta, he built creative workshops and visual standards across global teams. At Ogilvy, he led national campaigns for brands like Hellmann’s and Cabela’s. His State Farm app redesign won a Webby and serves 9+ million customers.
Rob mentors designers through AIGA and speaks about bringing creativity to product design and experimenting with interfaces.
Sean Adams
Dean Visual Art & Communication, ArtCenter College of Design, 2014 AIGA Medalist
Sean Adams is the Dean of Art and Communication at ArtCenter College of Design. He is the author of nine books, including The Designer’s Dictionary of Color and How Design Makes Us Think. Adams is an on-screen instructor for LinkedIn Learning, Domestika, Adobe, and a contributor to Design Observer. He is the only two-term AIGA national president in AIGA’s history. In 2014, Adams was awarded the AIGA Medal. Previously, Adams was a founding partner of AdamsMorioka. His client list includes The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, Adobe, Disney, Gap, The Metropolitan Opera, the Museum of Natural History, Nickelodeon, Sundance, and the University of Southern California.
Sheharazad Fleming
President, Corita Art Center | The Great Discontent | WE MUST BE BOLD
Sheharazad Fleming is an Iranian-American creative director whose work bridges strategic communications and visual storytelling to drive cultural and civic impact. As former Director of Digital Communications for the Mayor of Los Angeles and Creative Director for institutions like USC and Otis College of Art and Design, she has mobilized design in service of the people and stories that shape Los Angeles. Sheharazad is President and Board Chair of Corita Art Center, where she champions the legacy of artist, educator, and social justice advocate Corita Kent—an ethos she brings into the classroom as a professor at ArtCenter College of Design. She also leads the community design studio WE MUST BE BOLD and serves as Editor-in-Chief of The Great Discontent, a platform sharing the journeys of artists who use creativity as a catalyst for social change.
Recognizing Excellence in Design and Designers
Nominations for the AIGA Medal, AIGA Corporate Leadership Award, and the Steven Heller Prize are now closed. Join AIGA to support programs to recognize innovation in design.
Join AIGAOverview
Through national and regional peer nominations, AIGA honors design leaders, forward-thinking companies, and those who have inspired engaging commentary about design and culture. Each year, committees and panels assemble to review nominations and identify individuals and companies doing excellent work now.
National Awards
AIGA Medal
The medal of AIGA—the most distinguished honor in the profession of communication design—has been awarded since 1920 to individuals in recognition of their exceptional achievements to the advancement of the field of design as respected craft, strategic advantage, and vital cultural force. Medals have been awarded to individuals who have set standards of excellence over a lifetime of work or have made individual contributions to innovation within the practice of design.
AIGA Corporate Leadership Award
Established in 1980, the AIGA Corporate Leadership Award recognizes the role of perceptive and forward-thinking organizations that have been instrumental in the advancement of design by applying the highest standards as a matter of practice and policy.
Steven Heller Prize for Cultural Commentary
Established in 2017, the annual Steven Heller Prize for Cultural Commentary spotlights a individuals who best exemplifies the tradition of prolific writing and boundless curiosity established by Steven Heller—who has contributed and inspired engaging commentary about design and culture for the past three decades. This award celebrates critical thinking about design and the profession, and encourages development in the next generation of design voices through a variety of media (book authors, editors, critics, reporters, copywriters, bloggers, podcasters, radio/video content creators, or filmmakers).
Nominations Now Open
We accept nominations on a rolling basis. Submit now the nominations for the AIGA Awards 2026.
More Scholarships & Competitions
AIGA Worldstudio Scholarships
Scholarships are awarded annually to encourage social and environmental responsibility and cultural awareness in the next generation of artists and designers.
50 Books | 50 Covers
A time-honored tradition, this competition aims to identify the 50 best-designed books and 50-best book covers of the year.
365: AIGA Year in Design
For agencies big and small as well as those going it alone, we're recognizing excellence and representing innovation across all categories of communication design, from print to web to service to spaces—both physical and virtual.
