Elevating the social importance of design
July 21-24 will see leaders from AIGA, the national professional association for design, partnering with local designers in Birmingham for a design summit dedicated to the notion that the design community can affect social change. This event is modeled on the Aspen [Co] Design Summit of 2009.
A mix of local and national design team leaders will engage participants on issues such as natural resources and Alabama’s public image. A public reception will be held at Alagasco downtown (20th Street and Powell Avenue) Friday evening July 22 to showcase initial brainstorming sessions. Check out alabamaengine.org for more information (coming soon!). It’s fantastic that Birmingham, with its wealth of good designers from many disciplines, will be hosting this event.
According to Matt Leavell of Auburn University, one of the organizers, this is part of an effort to “position designers as thought leaders, and to develop solutions to complex problems. Organizations don’t usually have the time themselves, so we’re stepping in to fill the gap.” It will be exciting to see what design solutions come out of this conference.
A respite from urban travails
And with that, the author of this blog is embarking on a honeymoon trip to the Norwegian fjords that will last the bulk of July. We will be back with regular posts the first week in August. Everyone stay cool in the big city until then.
[thanks to rev dan catt for the design pic, and atari123 for the fjord]
Bhamarchitect's Blog 