ACTION FOR IMPACT
AIGA + Wolff Olins

We’re back from Phoenix and infused with inspiration from this year’s AIGA: Pivot conference. There were some great speakers provoking thought and discussion about the opportunity for design during this time of extraordinary change in the world.  Our AIGA + Wolff Olins workshop was no exception - the discussions were lively, spirited and even heated at times.  From AIGA board members to students, members to non-members, there were a lot of strong opinions in the room ready to lead the future of AIGA and design. 

We kicked off by explaining the brief and asked 2 big questions from our assembly –

1.  What specific initiatives/actions could AIGA undertake to “make design more valued and valuable – to improve the human experience?”

2.     How could AIGA increase membership (and other revenue sources) to pay for these initiatives?

We’ve synthesized the ideas here to capture the best of the best from a lot of insightful, but sometimes overlapping material.  Please comment with your thoughts on ways to evolve these ideas - let’s keep the dialogue going.  

The big ideas here:

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Karl Heiselman, CEO and Nick O’Flaherty, Strategy Director at Wolff Olins brainstorming the brief for AIGA: Action for Impact affinity session at the upcoming Pivot: AIGA Design Conference on October 15 in Phoenix.

Ric Grefe, Executive Director of AIGA joins the Wolff Olins team to discuss the workshop details coming up later this week.

Last week the Wolff Olins NY office agreed to take part in a test run for the workshop. Lots of healthy debate over the brief questions and more than a few really exciting ideas that came out of the session. We’ll share this with you all after the real event has taken place. Stay tuned…

Richard Grefé
Executive Director, AIGA

One of the real advantages of leading a design organization is the chance to benefit from creative thinking on how to design the organization itself—so that it is more responsive, more relevant and more valuable to members in advocating their interests. Particularly over the past two years, we have been listening carefully and considering the changes in students, young designers and the environment in which they will practice design—as well as what “design” will include.

We have surveyed members and nonmembers, undertaken research on demographics and new disciplines, considered the influence of the web on associations, held focused discussions with board members and thought leaders, and benefited from the engagement of VSA Partners in launching One Day for Design to engage the Twitter community of designers on what AIGA can be.

We are poised for change and eager for it. When Karl and his team approached us to undertake a workshop to elicit best thinking from participants at our biennial conference as a means of demonstrating their own approach, we jumped on it. When it comes to strategic thinking about AIGA and designers’ needs and concerns, AIGA is open and inclusive, because we believe in continuous improvement and do not believe we can be any stronger than the ideas of smart designers.

We are committed to act on any recommendations that represent a progressive pivoting of the organization toward deeper service to the emerging generations of designers, given the mission and resources of the organization.

How did this come about?

Karl Heiselman
CEO, Wolff Olins

Earlier this summer, I was asked to speak at the upcoming Pivot: AIGA Design Conference in Phoenix in October. Richard Grefé the Executive Director of AIGA, came by our studio for a chat about the details.

I’ve never been a member of AIGA, nor have I attended an AIGA event. But as Ric started telling us about some recent AIGA initiatives and his plan to reinvent the organization with his board, I was intrigued. Turns out AIGA has big ambitions, and they want to create greater impact during this critical time of change in the world. They’re asking the right questions about the future of design, and how AIGA and designers fit into that future. They’re doing some really cool stuff.

Wolff Olins works with ambitious leaders to create game-changing work that drives positive business and social impact. As we began to tell Ric about our method, it came to us: Let’s apply the Wolff Olins approach and turn the spotlight on AIGA. He signed on quickly, and we designed a workshop to help drive AIGA’s reinvention.

So on Saturday the 15^th at the conference in Phoenix, Ric and a few of us from Wolff Olins will run a collaborative workshop called Action for Impact: AIGA. It’s a 75 minute session in which we’re inviting Pivot attendees to join together and come up with actionable ideas for AIGA to make their vision real. In particular, we’re asking what specific initiatives AIGA could undertake to make design more valued and valuable - to improve the human experience. And then we’re going to figure out how to make those ideas happen. 

This workshop has the potential to really make a difference on what people, especially designers, do every day. If you’re coming to Pivot, we’d love to see you there. For everyone else, keep checking back for updates and ways to get involved. Let’s lead the charge in defining the future of AIGA and the role of design in the world. 

Workshop details
Action for Impact: AIGA
Saturday, October 15th
2:30 – 3:45 PM
102A, West Building, Phoenix Convention Center

Pre-registration required