Dear Seattle Creative Community, This year AIGA Seattle celebrates 30 years as a chapter. It’s a milestone that we are proud to celebrate and wouldn’t be possible without our founding Board members and hun- 1986 vs. 2017 dreds of passionate creatives like yourself. Everything that AIGA has become and will continue to be is a direct product of our community. Population Greater Seattle Metro Area While AIGA is the oldest and largest professional design (Seattle-Bellevue-Tacoma) association around, each of our chapters are rooted in and 2,301,024 3,798,902 focused on impacting our members locally first. We want to be there with you as you grow through your career. We also Median King County Home Price want you to be there with us to share your stories and foster 02 $83,254 $650,000 an inclusive and diverse creative community. 02 Average Apartment Rent in Seattle Design has continued to become more of a household term and will continue to do so as the years pass. There are $312 $2,181 many places one’s mind will go if you ask ‘what does design Dow Jones Industrial Average mean to you?’ Some may say architecture or fashion. Others 1,895 22,841 will talk about brands or posters. AIGA Seattle strives to be at the forefront of this conversation to help educate both the Nasdaq Composite Index general public and our creative community on how big this 349 6,603 word truly is. Design is much more than how something looks or even how something functions. I find it best to view design as the intention and process behind everything that is created. Yes, everything. And as the professional association for design, AIGA aims to bring together professionals and students from multiple disciplines to learn from and share with one another. As practitioners in the creative professions, we draw from our personal experiences in everything we do. When we are able to connect and learn from others outside of our normal purview, we become more well-rounded and able to 1986 Headlines create and craft better solutions for our clients and ourselves. Whether you are a traditional graphic designer, a UX design- Breakthrough in US - USSR arms er, a copywriter, a design consultant, a strategist, a project talks between Reagan and Gorbachev leads to manager, an educator, a developer, a student, a photographer, commitment to disarm an architect, an illustrator, a mixture of all these or something Andrew Lloyd-Webber’s The Phantom of the Opera premieres in London else entirely, you are one of us. The Oprah Winfrey Show debuts Together we have accomplished a great deal. Together on national television we will continue to accomplish more. During the last 5 years Surgeon General recommends that AIGA Seattle has made significant efforts to create more smoking be banned on airplanes and other public transporation 03 initiative-based programming and opportunities. From our 04 Design for Good Changemaker Series to our Women Lead Internet Mail Access Protocol (IMAP) defined for email transfer Initiative and Diversity & Inclusion efforts, we continue to The Human Genome Project is launched bring selfless, like-minded creatives together to make Seattle Top song of the year: “That’s What a better place to live and to work. Not just for us, but for all Friends Are For” (Dionne Warwick and friends) who join us in calling the Pacific Northwest their home. “It” by Stephen King is the top selling It’s been an honor to represent you during this past year. book of hard-cover fiction I hope that you’ll consider giving more of yourself to this wor- Top grossing film: Top Gun Oscar for Best Picture: Out of Africa thy and necessary community. We are stronger together— Microsoft headquarters moves to and together we can make Seattle the best place for all of us. Redmond, and the company goes public King County is named after Thank you for your continued support, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Brendan Shanley PRESIDENT, AIGA SEATTLE National Mission To advance design as a pro- fessional craft, strategic advantage and vital cultural force. ¶ AIGA members are the largest global community of de- signers — and all-around amazing people — who un- derstand that our passion and hard work can improve the world around us, in ways big and small. For everyone. ¶ Through the events that we organize, the initiatives that we run, the content that we publish, the conversations we ignite and the relationships that we foster, we create opportunities for all of us to learn, inspire and support each other, at ev- ery step of our careers. ¶ Through everything that we do, we champion our beloved profession and advocate for design as vital to the cultural, civic and business development of 05 our local communities, the national landscape and the world 06 at large. ¶ AIGA is the Professional Association for Design. Local Mission Designing a Better Future for Seattle. ¶ We are a community of creative pioneers, harnessing the power of design to build a better future. We constantly ex- plore and leverage the physical and digital landscapes by engaging people through design-related programming. ¶ We are designers, strategists, writers, developers, students, educators, directors and volunteers. We call the Pacific Northwest home. ¶ We are AIGA Seattle. Vision Empower and educate our community to utilize design as a tool for positive impacts on business and society. PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF SHUTTERSTOCK Programs Emerging Community AIGA Seattle celebrates students pixels on websites to a means of creating world-changing and designers that are new to the industry. With skill de- connections. Continuing the theme of future forward think- veloping workshops, inspirational talks and networking op- ing, HIVE 2017 focused directly on improving technological portunities, our events speak directly to high school students and social advances using various design techniques. Sem- with the AIGA Link Program and to college students as they inar topics ranged from virtual reality and artificial intelli- are preparing to graduate, or to those that are still new to gence to social justice and communication design. Attendees the industry with their first design job. heard from local and national experts who have established best practices using their design skill sets in a way to shape Professional Community We want to call attention to and encourage positive change. the breadth of knowledge that Seattle’s design community has to offer. Whether someone is new to design or has been Into the Woods 2018 A three day, fully immersive design a designer in Seattle for 20 years, these events are geared conference filled with hands-on workshops, inspiring speak- 07 08 towards working together, celebrating local design profes- ers and creative bonding, Into the Woods takes designers sionals and staying on top of best practices and innovation “off the grid” for a deep-dive with some of the greatest de- in our industry. sign minds from across the country. Workshops can range from traditional to digital design, including hand lettering, Inspiration & Industry Seattle is filled with all kinds of in- letterpress, silk screening and more. teresting companies and talented design professionals from many different industries. We’re creating events to celebrate and inspire the community, with new projects and different methods that participants can introduce to their own busi- nesses and teams. HIVE Conference 2017 The landscape of design is evolving into a human-centered, experience-based profession. Design has grown from traditional practices of ink on paper and Initiatives Design for Good Design for Good is a movement to ignite, Diversity & Inclusion There are vast opportunities to accelerate and amplify design-driven social change. The support a more diverse audience of design practitioners. initiative recognizes the wide range of designers’ work and Recent passionate conversations among AIGA members leadership which benefits the world, our country and our have catalyzed the Diversity & Inclusion Initiative to aug- communities. AIGA Seattle has a long history (20+ years) ment ongoing AIGA programs with new ideas and resources with cause-related projects going as far back as the found- that take a comprehensive approach, considering race, ing of Art with Heart and AIGA Link, to the more recent vethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, ability and disability, establishment of the Changemaker Series. age and other factors that shape creative perspective and professional experience. Women Lead Initiative The Women Lead Initiative is committed to empowering women in design and advancing In-House Initiative As one of the biggest member groups the vital discourse on issues facing professional women to- of AIGA, in-house creatives deserve special attention. In- 09 010 day without generalizing or segregating women designers. House Initiative is a joint partnership between AIGA and Instead, we aim to address persistent biases and inequities The Creative Group. This program provides knowledge and inclusively and constructively. AIGA Seattle has organized tools to help in-house designers make a greater impact at several popular Women Lead roundtables, panel discussions their companies, evolve professionally and connect with a and lectures—including five events this year for Women’s broader network of peers. In-House Initiative delivers in- History Month. spiration, advice and insights from leaders of the in-house sector via online channels and in-person events. Design for Democracy Established in 1998, AIGA Design for Democracy applies design tools and thinking to increase civic participation. Independent, pragmatic and committed to the public good, Design for Democracy collaborates with researchers, designers and policy-makers. Design for Democ- racy made its debut in Seattle last year with three events, including a Get Out the Vote drive. AIGA Events in 2017 Thirty-one AIGA Seattle events plus many more events created with and in support of our community partners.