Richard Grefé Explains AIGA is Your Association in a Tough Economy

December 04, 2008 Filed Under: Guest Bloggers 0 Comments

The economic news over the past several months has been sobering. Although many of our members have reported that their design practices remain stable, we have learned from past recessions that the profession is not immune to the effects of a downturn, just that the impact may be felt less immediately than in other business sectors. 

On the positive side, innovation and design thinking are being regarded as more critical to business success than in past recessions. To capitalize on this momentum, AIGA is taking a lead within the National Design Policy Summit and participating in the Competitiveness Council. These relationships, along with our longstanding tradition of demonstrating the power of design to business leaders and government officials, will help designers generally to strengthen their position as key players in the modern economy as it rebounds. 

Nonetheless, we recognize that many designers are worried about the current economic environment. 

To help you strengthen your business and career when support is most needed, we are offering an exclusive members-only webinar, at no cost, through the AIGA Center for Practice Management (CPM). On December 15, “Good Advice for Bad Times” will address what you can do to keep your design business healthy during the economic downturn. Clients are cutting back existing budgets and delaying the start of new initiatives, but your studio still has bills to pay. This webinar will provide six smart strategies to help you guide your firm successfully through today's tough challenges, and position it to thrive again in the future.

This first CPM webinar is available at no cost to current AIGA professional and associate members, but pre-registration is required and space is limited. Register now at cpm.aiga.org/webinars to reserve your space. (Note that future webinars will require a fee, yet remain a member-only benefit.) 

And to answer some of the questions you might be having, I’ve written a new Insight article entitled “How Is AIGA Helping Designers to Survive the Recession?”

In order to provide consistent leadership to designers who are anxious about their future, I will be communicating more often through a series a web articles in AIGA Insight. The most recent one explains why, despite economic challenges, this is precisely when a professional association can be most beneficial to its members. AIGA can help the profession survive the recession and spring back early and strong by helping designers to strengthen themselves during a slow period, and by continuing to increase clients’ understanding of the need for designers and design thinking to build competitive positioning as the economy ebbs and flows. Read more at www.aiga.org/aiga-insight. 

We sincerely hope that these resources—in addition to the networking and professional development opportunities that AIGA membership provides—will be of assistance to you during this time. We have utmost faith that your creativity and innovation will help you emerge from this downturn a stronger, smarter designer. As always, we appreciate your honest feedback and welcome your suggestions as to how we can further help you. 

Written by: Richard Grefé, Executive Director, AIGA