AIGA (American Institute of Graphic Arts)

Established in 1914 as the American Institute of Graphic Arts, AIGA is the oldest professional organization devoted to design in the United States. Since its formation in New York, AIGA has grown to become one of the major professional associations dedicated to design in the United States and abroad. Its forty founding members included illustrator and designer F.G. Cooper (1883–1962) and typography pioneer Frederic W. Goudy (1865–1947) as well as prominent fine and commercial printers Hal Marchbanks (1877–1934) and William Edwin Rudge (1876–1931). The organization initially focused on the promotion of fine typography, bookmaking, and high-quality commercial printing. Responding to the new multi-faceted profession of the ‘designer,’ which emerged from the marketing needs of the flourishing American economy, AIGA helped to broaden the graphic arts into a diverse set of practices. As early as the 1920s, AIGA membership expanded to typographers, printers, illustrators, package designers, trademark designers, photographers, industrial designers, jewelry designers, and glass designers. It was also the first design association to accept women as members. Frances Atwater, a typographer at the New York Times, and Baltimore Museum of Art Director Florence N. Levy set this precedent.

By the 1981, local AIGA chapters were initiated throughout the United States. As of 2010, the Chicago branch held a membership of 1,318. The association continues to connect practitioners, survey the field, and discuss developments. With a national membership of seventy chapters and 26,000 design practitioners, scholars, and students, AIGA is the largest design association in the nation, sponsoring design exhibitions, publications, lectures, workshops, and professional awards.

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http://www.aiga.org/aiga-spirit-what-is-it.

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http://www.aiga.org/aiga/content/inspiration/seventy-five-years-of-aiga/ 

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http://www.aiga.org/history-timeline. 

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