AIGA to host annual Awards Gala on April 21

New York, NY AIGA will host its Annual AIGA Awards Gala in partnership with its New York chapter on Friday, April 21 at Pier Sixty, located at 23^rd St. and the West Side Hwy. at Chelsea Piers.

Chaired by Brian Collins, CCO, co-founder, COLLINS, Bobby Martin, Jr., co-founder, OCD | The Original Champions of Design, and Christine Taylor, creative strategist, licensing, Hallmark Cards, the event will celebrate the 2017 AIGA Medalists and raise funds to support vital AIGA programs and initiatives such as World Studio Scholarships, Design Archives, Diversity & Inclusion, Women Lead, and Design for Good.

The AIGA Medal honors distinguished practitioners and leaders whose imagination, intelligence and skill have inspired and deepened the impact of design across business, education, society, and our collective futures.

AIGA Medals have been awarded since 1920 to individuals who have set standards of excellence over a lifetime of work or have made individual contributions to innovation within the practice of design. Former medalists include:

• Corita Kent, 2016–Recognized for her rebellious spirit as an artist and educator, and for her inventive use of graphic type and vibrant color in communicating messages of protest and social change.

• Paola Antonelli, 2015–Recognized for expanding the influence of design in everyday life by sharing fresh and incisive observations and curating provocative exhibitions at MoMA.

• Emory Douglas, 2015–Recognized for his fearless and powerful use of graphic design in the Black Panther party’s struggle for civil rights and against racism, oppression, and social injustice.

• Louise Fili, 2014–Recognized for impeccable craftsmanship, elegant use of typography and designing with a passion and focus that is the envy of every designer.

• Chip Kidd, 2014–Recognized for possessing an intuitive understanding of narrative and creating books and book cover designs that are at once intriguing, clever and entirely unique.

• Lucille Tenazas, 2013–Recognized for her prominent role in translating postmodern ideas into critical design practice; her exploration of the relationship between type, photography and language; and the development and leadership of highly-respected design education programs—always with exquisite execution.

• Stefan Sagmeister, 2013–Recognized for his unorthodox, provocative designs that tweak the status quo and question the designer’s role in society.

• John Maeda, 2010–Recognized as a leader in a new generation of designers whose work not only uses computers, but also understands the conceptual shifts wrought by computation itself.

• Seymour Chwast, 1985–Recognized for creating a new graphic lexicon based on knowledge, appreciation and reapplication of past styles and forms through his strength in concept and design and playful approach to type and layout.

“We are pleased to honor such extraordinary individuals at the AIGA gala each year,” said AIGA executive director Julie Anixter. “Each of these amazing designers, through persistent forward thinking, stubborn optimism and a profound mastery of their craft, has forced new futures into existence.” Medalists for the 2017 gala will be announced next month.

Event partners include sponsors such as: Google, Facebook Design, DropBox, Pentagram, Lippincott, Chermayeff & Geismar & Haviv, Atlantic Records, and IBM, among others.

For more information about the event or to register, please visit www.aiga.org/gala.