AIGA

AIGA

AIGA logo
Founded 1914
Type Professional Association
Location
Locations
  • 70 chapters across the country[2]
Area served
 United States
Members
 over 25,000[1]
Official languages
 English
Key people
 Board President Sean Adams, Executive director: Richard Grefé[3]
Website aiga.org

AIGA, a professional organization for design was founded in 1914[1] as the American Institute of Graphic Arts.[4] Its members practice all forms of communication design, including graphic design, typography, interaction design, branding and identity. AIGA's aim is to be the standard bearer for professional ethics and practices for the design profession.[1]

History

In 1914, at the National Arts Club in New York City, a group of designers, led by Charles DeKay, met to create the American Institute of Graphic Arts. William H. Howland, publisher and editor of The Outlook, was elected president.[5] Represented by Washington, D.C. arts advocate and attorney, James Lorin Silverberg, Esq., The Washington, D.C. Chapter of AIGA, was organized as the American Institute of Graphic Arts, Incorporated, Washington, D.C. on September 6, 1984.[6]

Symbol sign project

Wikimedia Commons has media related to AIGA symbol signs.

The AIGA, in collaboration with the U.S. Department of Transportation, produced 50 standard symbols to be used on signs "in airports and other transportation hubs and at large international events". The first 34 symbols were published in 1974, receiving a Presidential Design Award. The remaining 16 designs were added in 1979.[7]

Annual competitions

Cased

In 2012, AIGA replaced all its competitions with a single competition called “Cased”[8] (formerly called "Justified"[9]). The stated aim of the competition is to demonstrate “the collective success and impact of the design profession by celebrating the best in contemporary design through case studies”.[8]

50 Books/50 Covers

Between 1941 and 2011 AIGA sponsored a juried contest for the 50 best designed books published in the previous year, entitled "50 Books/50 Covers". Jurors had included booksellers, book publishers, and designers such as George Salter.[10]

On 17 February 2012, AIGA announced that it would cease organizing the contest and that future contests would be organized by Design Observer.[11] This move has been criticized.[12]

365

The 365 was an annual design competition for all graphic design other than book design.[12] The last “365” competition was organized in 2011,[13] after which it was replaced by the “Cased” competition.

Conferences

AIGA organizes two conferences, the AIGA Design Conference and GAIN: AIGA Design and Business Conference. Both conferences are held biennially and the two are held in alternating years.

AIGA Design Conference

The first AIGA Design Conference took place in Boston, Massachusetts in 1985. It is hosted every two years[14] in a different city, and lasts 4 days.[15]

Past AIGA Design Conferences include:[16]

The 2015 Conference will be hosted by Roman Mars.[17]

National Board Members

As of 2015, the national board consists of[3]

Affiliations

Between 2005 and 2009, AIGA was briefly a member of Icograda (now called Ico-D). In 2010, it withdrew from the international organization, citing financial reasons.[18]

Publications

Journals

In 1947 AIGA started publishing the AIGA Journal of Graphic Design (ISSN 0736-5322),[19] which in 2000 was renamed Trace: AIGA Journal of Design (ISSN 1471-3497).[20] The journal ceased publication in 2003.[21]

Between 2000 and 2003 AIGA published Loop: AIGA Journal of Interaction Design Education, an “interactive, web-based” research journal on interaction and visual interface design co-sponsored by Virginia Commonwealth University’s Center for Design Studies.[22]

Between 2004 and 2011 AIGA published Voice: AIGA Journal of Design, an “an online publication for the discussion of design matters” listing Steven Heller as its editor.[23][24] Although the journal was stated in “What AIGA is doing and why”[25] and had been cited in scholarly research,[26][27] after AIGA revamped its website in May 2011[28] it was subsumed under AIGA’s main site and ceased to exist as a distinct entity.

Books

As part of its strategy to “publish critical thinking about design and designing”, AIGA also “copublishes selected works by thought leaders in design”[29] under the imprint of “AIGA Design Press”.[25] Published titles include

AIGA has also published the periodically updated AIGA professional practices in graphic design[31] including a translation to simplified Chinese.[32]

Other publication activities

AIGA also maintains the AIGA Design Archives, which was identified as a publishing activity.[25]

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 About page About AIGA
  2. ↑ AIGA Find a local chapter, List of AIGA chapters in the U.S.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 AIGA Board of Directors List of members of the 2014 AIGA Board of Directors
  4. ↑ "AIGA name".
  5. ↑ Steven Heller; Nathan Gluck. "Seventy-five years of AIGA". aiga.org. Retrieved 17 January 2015.
  6. ↑ "District of Columbia Corporate Records". The District of Columbia.
  7. ↑ "Symbol Signs". AIGA. 2009. Archived from the original on 10 October 2009. Retrieved 2009-09-02.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Cased competition, Cased: Case Studies for the AIGA Design Archives
  9. ↑ AIGA. "Justified: AIGA Annual Design Competition". Retrieved 3 June 2014.
  10. ↑ Fifty Books of the year 1963, The American Institute of Graphic Arts, New York, 1964
  11. ↑ AIGA (17 February 2012). "AIGA and Design Observer Partner on "50 Books/50 Covers"". Retrieved 3 June 2014.
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 Scher, Paula (6 April 2012). "AIGA: Unjustified". Print Magazine. Retrieved 3 June 2014.
  13. ↑ AIGA. "365 | Design Effectiveness Competition". Retrieved 3 June 2014.
  14. ↑ Pivot: AIGA Design Conference 2011. AIGA. Web. 21 Aug 2011.
  15. ↑ Make/Think: AIGA Design Conference 2009. CMS Wire. Web. 1 Oct 2009.
  16. ↑ A Tradition Over Time. AIGA. Web. 1 October 2009.
  17. ↑ Design Conference, AIGA Design Conference 2015 at New Orleans
  18. ↑ Grefe, Richard (January 25, 2010). "Why has AIGA withdrawn from Icograda?". Retrieved July 15, 2014.
  19. ↑ AIGA. "AIGA History Timeline". Retrieved July 18, 2014.
  20. ↑ "AIGA journal of graphic design / [Periodical]". OCAD U Library Catalogue. Retrieved July 18, 2014. Name changed to Trace: AIGA Journal of Design after v.18 no.2 (2000)
  21. ↑ "Trace / [Periodical]". OCAD U Library Catalogue. Retrieved July 18, 2014. Subtitled: AIGA Journal of Design. Publication ceased as of April 2003.
  22. ↑ "About Loop". Loop (7). AIGA. June 2013. Retrieved July 18, 2014.
  23. ↑ "Voice: AIGA Journal of Design". Archived from the original on March 28, 2004. Retrieved July 18, 2014. Consulting Editor Steven Heller
  24. ↑ "Voice: AIGA Journal of Design". Archived from the original on May 15, 2011. Retrieved July 18, 2014. Editor Steven Heller
  25. ↑ 25.0 25.1 25.2 AIGA. "What AIGA is doing and why: 2011" (PDF). p. 35. Retrieved July 19, 2014.
  26. ↑ Muir, Clive (June 2008). "Smiling With Customers". Business Communication Quarterly (Sage Publications) 71 (2): 241–246. doi:10.1177/1080569908317320.
  27. ↑ Julier, Guy (May 2005). "Urban Designscapes and the Production of Aesthetic Consent". Urban Studies (Routledge) 42 (5/6): 869–887. doi:10.1080/00420980500107474.
  28. ↑ AIGA. "FAQs: About aiga.org". Retrieved July 18, 2014.
  29. ↑ Zeldman, Jeffrey (July 6, 2006). Designing with Web Standards (2nd ed.). New Riders. p. xx. ISBN 0-321-38555-1.
  30. ↑ Parkins, Cameron (December 22, 2008). "AIGA Design Press: Digital Foundations, CC-Licensed Media Design Instruction". Creative Commons. Retrieved July 19, 2014.
  31. ↑ "American Institute of Graphic Arts". OCLC WorldCat Identities. OCLC. Retrieved July 18, 2014.
  32. ↑ AIGA China. "Design Business & Ethics, Chinese Edition". Retrieved July 19, 2014.

External links