AIGA is the nation’s largest professional design organization in the U.S. and also the oldest, having been established as the American Institute of Graphic Arts in 1914. As technology has rapidly changed the design industry over the past 100+ years, their name has since been simplified to just AIGA (pronounced A-I-G-A), the professional association for design.
As we were planning this project tour throughout the Summer, Fall, and Winter of 2016, we applied in for AIGA Innovate in Spring 2017, a fund of $1 million to be awarded to support and empower AIGA members and chapters to utilize the power of design to generate impact within communities over a four-year time span.
We’re excited to announce that [HAS HEART] will be awarded $50K grant throughout the 50 States project. These funds will directly be utilized to pay the Veteran and AIGA artist members in each state project (NOTE: In addition to this payment, the Veteran will continue to receive 25% of the proceeds generated from product sales of their design).
As mentioned in a recent blogpost, “Planning the Impossible,” our project would simply not be possible without AIGA. In fact, not only this tour, but the future mission of our HERO[series] projects have been modeled and built around the potential of this partnership with AIGA, its 70+ chapters across the country, and their 25,000+ creative-minded members. As a small nonprofit organization, [HAS HEART] views ourself as the connection point for a cross-cultural exchange between a Veteran and a designer, so having the largest organization for design is more than ideal, it’s necessary for this tour (and beyond).
[HAS HEART] has been gradually working towards building a partnership with AIGA for the past few years having started with a project with AIGA West Michigan (my home chapter!) for our 2015 HERO[series], and then the first mobile-test of the project with AIGA Detroit for our 2016 HERO[series] project. (You can go back and learn more about the evolution of the HERO[series] since its initial inspiration from meeting a quadriplegic Veteran in 2011 in the blogpost: Our Story – Part III).
While we were in NYC for our New York state project, we had the opportunity to visit the AIGA headquarters to meet the people behind the organization that we had been emailing, calling, and webcasting with for the first time in person. Here are a few images of their beautiful office space within the historic Woolworth Building, just a few blocks walk from the National 9/11 Memorial and Museum in which we hosted our NY project:
If you are part of one of the chapters on our upcoming tour schedule, we would love to work with you and your fellow AIGA members and partners. AIGA has provided internal assets for AIGA chapter leaders and members to learn more about how they and their chapters/members can participant:
- 2017 Leadership Retreat Presentation (June 02, 2017)
- Initial Outreach Email (Sent Oct. 27, 2017)
- Adobe Connect Session Webcast (Recorded Nov. 14, 2017)
- Wiki Page (Published Nov. 15, 2017)
- 2017 Innovate Projects
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS:
To help streamline chapter communication and further clarify beyond the provided assets, we’ve compiled a small list of questions that we’ve been consistently asked by previous chapters prior to their state projects:
Q: WHY?
A: Less than 01% of our population serves in the military, the largest gap in American history — connecting the distant worlds of creatives with Veterans through these HERO[series] projects is proving to be extremely impactful in breaking down barriers.
Q: WHAT DOES OUR CHAPTER NEED TO DO?
A: Refer and/or connect us to qualified participants — a designer, videographer, photographer, and potential workspace(s).
Q: WHAT IS THE BEST WAY FOR US TO ATTRACT PARTICIPANTS?
A: We’ve found that a direct email introduction to a select individual(s) or creative agencies works better than an open call on social media channels.
Q: DO WE NEED TO FIND A SPONSOR?
A: No, your chapter is not responsible to find a sponsor. However, if there are local companies that could be a good fit to sponsor this local project that is part of a larger nationwide campaign, then we could love a recommendation, connection, and/or introduction.
Q: WHAT ARE THE SPONSORSHIP FUNDS USED FOR?
A: The Veteran and Artist will both be compensated $500 from the AIGA Innovate grant, so the “Corporal” level state project sponsorship funds will be used to cover expenses for the photographer, videographer, project costs, travel logistics, and possibly roll-over to help cover expenses for other state projects that may not have been sponsored.
Q: HOW CAN OUR CHAPTER GET FURTHER INVOLVED?
A: You’re welcome to join us during the HERO[series] Design Days, post/share it on your social media channels, and utilize our press release to generate local media coverage around your chapter’s involvement.
Q: CAN WE CREATE AN EVENT AROUND THE PROJECT?
A: Yes, please! We would love to share the project, the many lessons learned from it, and the meaningful results coming from it with your chapter and local community. If there’s an opportunity to also include a Bingo game around the event, even better!
Q: ARE THERE ANY OTHER REQUIREMENTS FROM OUR CHAPTER?
A: Not really. We are pretty self-sufficient during the HERO[series] Design Days, but we certainly welcome any additional hospitality, local suggestions, ideas, and feedback!
Q: WHAT IS THE PROJECT’S TIMELINE?
A: The project begins with the two Design Days process. The designer, videographer, and photographer will then have about 3-4 weeks to complete the design and final deliverables to us to begin preparing them for production and launch.