public service announcements are quite expensive. plus it reaches probably wider of an audience than aiga intends to reach. so this might be a cost/payoff issue.

i don't think the pamphlets are meant for us designers, but for us to use them as support materials. however, while i think they are "cute" and the content might be good, i think they will not get much of an executives interest. i think the format fails miserably.

does AIGA send them to executives as well?

ps

I received either a letter or an e-mail saying that we would be getting the little pamphlets. It said that we would get three to give to our clients and if we needed more we could ask for more.

> Why didn't the AIGA target the intended audience--executives--instead of having designers play messenger? And how long will it take before the AIGA promotes design through public service announcements on the radio, interrupting your news, music, or sports? Or are there other media channels they should consider, like direct mail, pamphlets, or billboards?

Jason,

Great questions, all of them. But I feel like this is one of those situations where designers -- AIGA members and non-members -- are questioning/complaining (not to insinuate you are complaining) about some burning issue, but they are not directing their questions/concerns to the right people.

Discussing this on Speak Up is one way of addressing the questions you raise. The best person to answer a query such as, "...how long will it take before the AIGA promotes design through public service announcements on the radio, interrupting your news, music, or sports?" is Ric Grefé.

I would suggest you email him and ask these questions. I'm sure you will find that they have already looked into these issues and he will be more than hapy to answer them.

One thing to note (as ps pointed out that public service messages are expensive):

+ Total AIA professional membership dues: over $300 (depending on chapter affiliation)

+ The AIA has almost 300 state and local chapters representing 70,000+ members.

+ Total AIGA professional membership dues: $275

+ The AIGA has 47 representing approximately 16,000 members.

There's strength in numbers.

When I was in NY last November Bryony and I went to AIGA headquarters to see the 365 Exhibit. At the entrance there is this:

While standing outside I saw 2-3 people stop by and read the AIGA's mission statement. Pretty much those 2-3 people shrugged and went on their merry ways… however, that little spark of information could, ideally, make its way into a passersby unconsciouss and one day, when s/he need a graphic designer s/he'll remember about that weird, all-red-inside, metallic-door place where designers gathered. Or not.

Brady (or Tan) you might be more aware of initiatives that the AIGA takes to inform businesses but I don't really see many. And, on the local level I don't think there is any that I know of… oh, except for the Triad awards (for which I am planning a post, it's actually a really interesting annual report competition).

Also, when I was in Atlanta for a workshop at Portfolio Center, Hank was telling me about Ken Carbone (partner at Carbone Smolan) who goes around the country touring graduate business schools and lecturing on the importance of design. That's cool.

Jason,

You raise a good point. How do we get the word out to the public (especially top-level executives with deep pockets) that design can help to improve your community?

This is a core goal of AIGA, and they have started to spread the word with publications like the one you received.

Here's the catch: AIGA, for the most part, is a volutneer-based organization. The best way to affect change in such a organization is to complain less and DO more. Obviously, you are a member, but how much time have you volunteered to your local chapter? Recently, I have become involved with my local chapter. Sometimes the work is thankless, but I finally realized the more I DO, the better our chapter becomes. I believe this will strengthen our local community of designers, then we can and will be heard by local business leaders.

Now, Jason, maybe I have it all wrong. Maybe you devote hours of your own time to the AIGA Seattle chapter. But if your were involved, I think you would have taken your criticism to AIGA instead of SpeakUp.

I'm not a member of AIGA. Total slacker I know and maybe I should be. But I'm also in a pretty small market and not entirely sure what AIGA could really do for me (maybe they need to send me the pamphlet that pitches me on membership).

But in re: teaching C-class executives about the value of design, I subscribe all my new clients to @issue. It's a bit heavy and thick, but the writing and general format is usually directed at the executives instead of the designers. And it tends to discuss aspects of design that executives can relate to (how a design affected the bottom line in visible and not-so-visible ways... an article on changing fedex's logo and the ensuing impact the new paintjob had on aircraft fuel efficiency for example).

But this style of information-pushing is different from a nice short/sweet statement (like a 30second spot in any time-based media).

It's the branding, silly... just gotta beat them over the head with it in as many media as possible...

> I think you would have taken your criticism to AIGA instead of SpeakUp.

Brian, it's not so much a matter of where you "take" the criticism, many AIGA board members read Speak Up, so eventually they get to hear it. The difference — and I'm not saying it's a better difference — is that here there is more back and forth and the AIGA can read comments from other (and more) people with similar concerns.

Jason's question is as good as any other whether it is posed here or anywhere else. And if we stick to the main objective which is how can we reach an audience that is not designers? we (you, me, Jason, Brady, Ric Grefe) can all benefit from it.

So, Brian, since you have been involved with your AIGA chapter what's being done locally at yours?

Recently, and I think this is really great, the Chicago Tribune (the major newspaper here) ran an article on Marcia Lausen's work on the voting ballot for Cook County (which covers the major metropolitan area). You can read about it here (free registration required). How many business people read that? Who knows, hopefully many. Perhaps it's a matter of making copies of the article and slipping it under CEOs' doors to raise more awareness. The initial, harder step is already in place, now I think it's a matter of giving it the correct exposure in the appropriate circles to make it even more relevant and helpful for the profession.

Armin,

I do recognize SpeakUp as a centralized, neutral ground for discussing design issues. Many AIGA members do visit and participate in this site.

However, Jason's post was very AIGA specific:

Why didn't the AIGA target the intended audience...? And how long will it take before the AIGA promotes design through public service announcements...? Or are there other media channels they [AIGA] should consider, like direct mail, pamphlets, or billboards?

So I feel my statements are justified. However, I am becoming argumentative, so I'll try to add to the conversation.

As I said, I have only recently become involved with AIGA. One of our grassroots efforts, in Indianapolis, is to encourage local members to become involved with other volunteer-based community initiatives. We now have members involved with our local cultural districts program. Yes, it is a small step, but we are just getting started.

now I think it's a matter of giving it the correct exposure in the appropriate circles to make it even more relevant and helpful for the profession

Yes, this is the real issue. How do we go about doing this, whether or not you are affiliated with AIGA?

I think one solution for all design organizations (AIA, AIGA, IDSA, IDA, etc.) would be to join together and lobby/support/rally better design curriculums in k-12 and post-secondary education.

One reason we don't appreciate good design (again, speaking about design in general) in this country is that we've never really been taught how to design. We learn math, reading, science, football and a little bit of art/music if there's budget left, and that's about it.

Hell, it wasn't until college that I even discovered that being a designer could be a career.

BTW, does anyone think the AIA ads really make a difference? The AIA is competing with mass marketed vinyl clad boxes in the suburbs. Architects either need to get into the building business, or better communicate the fact that an architect can lead to a less expensive, but better designed solution. All to often I see architects that want to focus on residential fall back on only targetting the upper class and letting the general public spend their money with the cookie cutter builders. This is just my own perception, of course...and I'm not even sure what the comparison to AIGA would be in that context.

hmm...curriculums? curriculi? curricula? Damn latin.

> Brady (or Tan) you might be more aware of initiatives that the AIGA takes to inform businesses but I don't really see many.

Boy, this whole issue of business advocacy has been a hot topic for AIGA as long as I've been involved with the organization.

Every year, AIGA holds a national retreat for all of the chapter execs in the organization. About 4-5 years ago at the retreat in Baltimore, Ric actually invited the AIA to come and talk about their efforts and campaigns to publicize and educate the public on the value and purpose of the organization. It was well received, but most were wary of the costs and skeptical of AIGA's ability to execute.

Then, in the following annual retreat in Atlanta, there was a campaign that was presented to the chapter leaders with much pomp and circumstance by Ogilvy NY (as accurate as I can recollect) -- who was hired to create a public voice for AIGA and the graphic design profession. "Design Isn't Pretty" was the name of the campaign. Well let's just say that it was less than well-received. Granted, a room full with art/creative directors, principals, brand gurus, etc. is a tough crowd -- but the campaign was in my opinion, a failure. I won't go into it all, but the problem was that Ogilvy themselves didn't understand what graphic design was. As examples of effective design, Olgilvy used everyday things like rubber doorstops and kitchen tools. Well that's industrial design, not graphic design. We all ended up getting these crappy tshirts, and I never heard about that doomed campaign again.

Then 9/11 happened, and the economy tanked -- and then all of a sudden, advocacy and big campaigns gave way to sheer survival and resourcefulness. Understandable.

The following retreat in Seattle, Stone/Yamashita was task with getting the organization back to basics -- defining our core messaging and what AIGA and the profession was about. Why we matter, why we have value, why graphic design? So from that, was born the "Why?" campaign.

I'm not sure where things are at currently on the subject. I do know however, that finding ways of selling design to businesses and the public is the number one request from AIGA membership. It's something like 60 out of 100% of requests for primary initiatives. So you're not alone.

So, why does graphic design matter? Not just branding stuff, but in general, to businesses -- what should be the messaging/education? How would you relay/advocate that message? If SU could figure that out, I'll be happy to forward to Ric Grefe our solutions and thoughts.

Interesting, Tan. I had no idea that this was something that had so much steam behind it. I'm glad to hear about the retreats, and it sounds like they're doing something to get design in front of people.

As for options, I'm with Darrel. Getting in front of students makes the most sense. I agree that design means nothing to a high schooler. It's not even until college that one learns that design is an alternative---an alternative, not a choice. And it's not something that they can understand outside of packaging, logos, and music videos. But something is better than nothing.

Mostly, failed architects and hungry art students look to design as an alternative. It sounds cynical. And yes, there's a rare breed out there, that know design is for them. But it's not the thing you learn about in a high school job forum or college placement exam! Perhaps steps like k-12 awareness are already happening. It'd be a hell of a lot more valuable than preaching to the choir with little pamphlets or doing announcements on sports radio 950.

Getting in front of students makes the most sense. I agree that design means nothing to a high schooler.

Some of us in our high school knew what design meant, or an unformed, untested idea of it at least. We poured over Raygun specifically just for design and layout (and for a 17 year old back then, it was awesome). There was a career day deal when they offered a group of us to speak with a graphic designer. About ten students signed up for this session, some of us expecting Carson-levels of coolness. We got a hippie who airbrushed, mostly vans.

Only two out of that group went on to design classes in college.

You may be on to something there...

A thought. Just like printers, paper companies and Adobe tour the country following design conferences and setting up booths in the vendor/sponsor areas, the AIGA could do the same at business conferences (whatever those are, I do not follow the business conference circuit that closely). But they could have literature to hand out to a bunch of unsuspecting business people, right? I have at least once contacted some company from those types of introductions. And I invariably go through goodie bags and keep that which interests me — so I think that could work too. I'm guessing that one Adobe booth at the AIGA conference could cover the price for one AIGA booth at another conference. Like that TED one.

I like that idea a lot, Armin.

In that same vein, what about design classes included in MBA and Business undergrad curriculums, or at least special guests from community designers (non-hippie van airbrush painters allowed)? Get them while they're young?

> or at least special guests from community designers

That's exactly what Ken Carbone (mentioned earlier) does. Marty Neuemier could do that too.

Even gathering all of 'em around a fireplace and reading past issues of @issue aloud would help.

“The takeaway is that buildings are better when designed by an AIA certified architect. A school becomes something more, something greater.”

I’m glad that the AIGA doesn’t advertise like the AIA. I do not agree that being an AIA member means that you are a better architect. I would not appreciate the AIGA saying that any member of their club is a better designer than me. The AIA is basically giving the bird to the architects who are not members of their club.

I like the message that the AIGA puts out now, and would be interested in joining them if there was a chapter near me. If they begin getting too preachy from ivory towers I’ll be sure to keep my distance.

Some of us in our high school knew what design meant, or an unformed, untested idea of it at least. We poured over Raygun specifically just for design and layout

I'm talking about design on a much broader level. Creative thinking. Problem solving. Engineering solutions, etc. It's not a skill we nuture in children. For that matter, the arts aren't a skill either. It's math, reading, and science. A bit of generic history and social studies, and THAT is supposed to be our well rounded education. Bush's No Child Left Behind program just makes it worse.

Crap. Now I'm going off on a political rant.

OK, back on track...for specific examples of graphic design: we take how many years of English? 12? What do we learn? Lots of writing, grammar, spelling, prose, voice, etc. And at any point do we learn how to actually present our writing in a visually meaningful way? Nope. Well...I do remember a few book reports in gradeschool where we got to draw pictures, but that was about it.

Math. Lots of math. Statistics, algebra, calculus, etc. At any time do we take the time to learn how to visually present our data so that it is easily interpreted by others? Not really.

I could go on. A lot of people miss out on developing that basic skill of understanding design. That's why a majority of us shop at Wal-Mart and live in a grey, vinyl box in the burbs.

So, it's hard to expect your average business owner to even consider design as a priority without a better understanding of what it even is.

We got a hippie who airbrushed, mostly vans.

Ha! Yes, exactly the problem. *sigh*. ;o)

In that same vein, what about design classes included in MBA and Business undergrad curriculums

Curricula. (I had to look it up) ;o)

And yes, I agree. Actually, I find design as important as the other primary courses we take. Design is a foundation to what most of us do in our daily lives. Most people during the day are designing SOMETHING. The carpentar is designing a stair case; the CEO a powerpoint presentation; the custodian a better way to change the lightbulbs in the lobby...etc. The more one understands design, the more they appreciate those that specialize in a specific area of design.

> I would not appreciate the AIGA saying that any member of their club is a better designer than me. The AIA is basically giving the bird to the architects who are not members of their club.

The AIA is not giving the bird to anyone, they are just doing everything they can to foster their profession and the thousands of working, professional architects who may or may not be members.

Like the AIA, the AIGA is also a professional organization. Which means that they operate within the business world and must embrace and master all the things that go with it -- including promotion, advertising, advocacy, publishing, whatever is necessary to broadcast information out to its intended audience. It's not preaching to members, but advocating on their behalf.

The AIGA is mostly made up of normal people too -- not elitist. Don't be too cool for school Josh. Join up and make it what you want.

As a member of the board of AIGA-Baltimore, I read all of these posts with a very curious eye. All of these issues are things we discuss both locally and on the national level, and it really comes down to "how do we reinforce the value of design". As a designers I think we have struggled in speaking the language of business. C-level executives care less about what font and color you used then they do how your solution is going to solve their particular problem and increase the bottom line.

On the education front, there are several mentor programs geared toward HS students (the NY chapter's I believe is one of the oldest, most active mentor programs) and this is something I am spearheading to begin in Baltimore next fall. The goal of the program is to introduce students to design, and even more so, the power of design.

Most importantly, as has been echoed throughout these posts, for any of these activities to be successful, we need designers to participate. Without the volunteers who dedicate much time and effort to the AIGA, the organziation would not be what it is. Is it perfect, no. But we can only grow and learn by listenting and being run by designers like yourselves. Those with great ideas and great vision for the future of design.