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AIGA San Diego Tijuana

The San Diego - Tijuana chapter of AIGA, the Professional Association for Design, has been a dynamic contributor to the local creative community since 1987. The chapter is part of the national network founded in 1914 in New York City as the American Institute of Graphic Arts. HOW and Print magazines have cited AIGA San Diego Tijuana as “one of the hottest communities for design in the nation.”

 

The non-profit’s local events provide educational, career enhancement and social opportunities for professional designers, educators, students and design enthusiasts in various fields including graphic design, UX design, photography, illustration, web development and more.

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SECTORS

  • Design, Creative, Advocacy

  • Professional Development

  • Nonprofit, Education, Events

PRIMARY LEADERS

  • MaeLin Levine, AIGA SD-TJ President

  • Ron Miriello, AIGA SD-TJ Board Member

  • Amy Levine, AIGA Y-Conference Lead

ENGAGEMENT

  • Pro-Bono, Board Member

  • 8 Years over multiple terms

AREAS OF FOCUS

  • Brand & Message Strategy

  • Membership Marketing

  • Event Marketing

  • Digital Presence

  • Media & PR

  • Special Events

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ACCOMPLISHMENTS

EVENT MARKETING

PR, marketing and communications support designed to raise awareness and increase attendance at AIGA monthly and yearly events including the annual Y-Conference and monthly Intrépido speaker series.

UKRAINE EXHIBIT

Message strategy promoting the GRAPHIS Designers for Peace: United with Ukraine exhibit featuring work from 60 artists from 30 countries. Included a merchandise website with proceeds benefitting humanitarian aid.

BOWHAUS EXHIBIT

Creative ideation and committee oversite of the AIGA SD Bowhaus exhibit including brand development, positioning, message strategy & copywriting, sponsorship strategy and volunteer structure / recruitment.

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KEY RELATIONSHIPS

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SCOPE & WORK

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Brand Refresh and Clarification

As a local chapter of an international organization, AIGA San Diego's membership is a diverse and award-winning representation of West Coast brand genius. The chapter was in need a brand refresh reflective of the combined caliber of talent within the organization's membership. Nicknox facilitated a brand ideation exercise that informed a reimagined, unique brand that was well suited to support the chapter's event and advocacy-centric model. This effort laid essential groundwork for the chapter in moving toward a cross-border membership accommodating both the San Diego and the Tijuana design communities.

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Chapter Communication Strategy

AIGA San Diego - Tijuana is a vibrant local chapter of AIGA, the Professional Association for Design. Equal parts advocacy and education, the organization has an ongoing queue of events, awards, news articles and opportunities to elevate awareness of the impact of design. Nicknox was instrumental in developing VO||CES, a bi-monthly communication channel with the flexibility to showcase key details, event promotion, community awareness and recaps.

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Membership Marketing

Member recruitment is a foundational element for AIGA SD-TJ, as it is for most professional organizations. Like many nonprofits, the organization took a hard in membership hit during the pandemic timeframe, calling for a reinvigorated approach that showcased the benefits and value of membership. As a uniquely complex and delightfully active chapter of AIGA, this involved development of an over-arching communication strategy that showcased the themes of education, advocacy and community that came together as a direct result of the chapter's model and priorities.

Designers for Peace

AIGA San Diego was selected by GRAPHIS Magazine to host the world premiere of the Designers for PEACE exhibition. United with Ukraine was a global juried exhibition of contemporary poster art that expressed a united voice of opposition to the war in Ukraine. The exhibition featured more than 60 pieces of poster art from over 30 countries, curated by Graphis CEO B. Martin Pedersen, and jury chair, Kit Hinrichs of Studio Hinrichs.Posters and a show catalog of the exhibit as well as commemorative merchandise and apparel were available for sale at the event benefitting humanitarian aid for the people of Ukraine.

Event Marketing & Promotion

AIGA San Diego-Tijuana offers powerful, high-visibility opportunities for designers and graphic artists in the region to benefit from educational events and participate in efforts to raise awareness of the global (and local) value of design within communities. The chapter produces a steady stream of popular events, including the annual Y-Conference, the Intrépido speaker series, the LINK program as well as unique opportunities for contribution like the 2024 World Design Capital, Contact/o, regional murals projects and bi-annual student portfolio reviews by cross-border design professionals.

Bowhaus Exhibit

Bowhaus was a San Diego art exhibit and auction featuring 101 artful dog houses created by area designers, artists, architects and sculptors. The exhibition was envisioned as a nonprofit event benefitting AIGA, the professional organization for design and select animal advocacy groups Bowhaus paid tribute to the Bauhaus design movement and builds on past nationally recognized AIGA San Diego exhibits including the Urban Art Trail, Benchmark and Tweet Street. The installation, which was sponsored by PETCO, was inspired by other noteworthy city-wide art installations like Cows on Parade and Hearts in San Francisco.

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