When the DC chapter of the American Institute for Graphic Arts (AIGA) decided to take their 11th AIGA 50 competition online, they reached out to board member and Grafik Senior Designer, Mila Arrisueno, who saw the potential to create something outstanding (Go Mila!). Mila immediately brought the opportunity to Grafik, and assembled a team of designers to work night and day to launch. In the two-month time frame, Grafik combined with the AIGA programing team to concept, design and develop an entire website and call for entry materials.
AIGA 50 is a biennial juried exhibition showcasing 50 of the strongest examples of design produced in this region over the last two years. For the last 20 years, entries have been submitted via snail mail. And the time between submission and the gala could be anywhere from six to eight months. This year, however, AIGA DC wanted to change all that. With a new goal to demonstrate the significance of design in all aspects of our personal and professional lives, the organization was determined to take AIGA 50 online, and use social media to create a vital dialogue. The Grafik team knew it would be a challenge, but they were totally up for it.
“For the designers, bringing the show online is an opportunity to fully expose their creative inner selves, showing everyone what they’re made of,” says Gregg Glaviano, Grafik Partner, and Creative Director. “With the added functionality of allowing the public to comment on the gallery of work, it also exposes entrants to praise, questions and more. This creates a live conversation between designers and the general public — elevating and exposing the design community to the greater community at large. The gallery will offer a chance for the community to see and comment on all the work once the judges have made their selections. With the blog, twitter and flickr feeds,viewers will have access to the entire process. Finally, after the show, a winners’ gallery will feature more images and greater insight than has ever been offered in the past. All in all it’s sure to be the most revealing show to date.”
Credits to the entire Grafik team: Gregg Glaviano, Mila Arrisueno, Sharif Elshinnawi,
Alex Diaz, Arthur Hsu, Heath Dwiggins, David Collins, Hal Swetnam, Johnny Vitorovich
and David Jolda.
