The business economy is a mess, the war is sort of over, clients won’t commit to projects, the job market is flooded with out of work “media designers” and printers are starting to throw in free graphics with a good print order. So what good is AIGA and why aren’t they saving us?
When I started in business, I did not feel like a grown up designer. So I joined AIGA to see what the smart adult designers in New York were doing. I also joined STA (later ACD, later still, STA again) to see what my competition was doing. I got mail, newsletters, and entered the competitions. And grumbled about how useless these dues eaters were. Then Bart Crosby made a big push for Chicago to be an AIGA chapter, and through my friendship with Bart, I experienced AIGA from a very different perspective. I was on the board—and one of the snobby elite running the thing.
I tell you this history, because without it, I would still be grumbling. What it taught me is that member organizations are fluid, are truly driven by members, and that if you don’t get involved, you shouldn’t bitch. I went on to become president of the Chicago chapter, served on the national board and still advise both. That happened because I volunteered, followed up, and did what I said I was going to do—and I brought my point of view to our industry. There is no big brain out there (similar to our government) that knows where to take our industry. The people we elect figure it out the best they can. So get involved and help. Design organizations are our collective voice, so include yours.
There are many long term and somewhat invisible benefits from Associations that are essential and need your support. AIGA and many of the other organizations are trying hard to create standards for ethics and education. They deal with issues about professional standards, lobbying with the government for more voice and visibility, and through competitions and exhibitions, raise the visual and verbal standards for all of us. Design needs a voice, a profile and someone to present us to the world, and AIGA is it.
To do all this costs money— and that is where dues, events and conventions come in. These are usually developed and run by designers just like you, and if they are great or suck it is because of the person in charge. I am not a big fan of a lot of these, but I am a fan of the things I have been involved in creating. You have the same power. Get involved. See if you can do better.
The other benefit is that you will broaden your peer group instantly. Designers are great when you make the effort to talk to them, we all have the same problems, egos and insecurities. Design organizations foster dialogue, sharing of information, and a chance to be involved in the destiny of your profession. But if you only go for the free food or the paper company t-shirt, you missed the point.
I don’t always like what AIGA does, but I voice my opinion to AIGA, not to the person sitting next to me. Call Marcia Lausen in Chicago, call Ric Grefe at national- they will talk to you, listen and do something with your input (well, not everyone’s input). But they are honestly trying to do the right thing on a tight budget with limited resources, and they need our help.
The bottom line is that I wouldn’t pay $20 to go to designer bowling. I still haven’t found out what the cool guys in New York are doing. But I wouldn’t trade my experience with my profession and my peers that I gained though AIGA for anything.
Did I mention get involved?
My first question, right off the bat, is how does joining the AIGA (or any design association) help my business? I am not questioning the valuable activity of talking and meeting designers, but it's hard to think that many new business opportunities would come from sipping wine* with my competitors.
* Big-false generalization, just going to the extreme to make my point.
On Jun.14.2003 at 12:15 PM