Design for Good

AIGA Portland’s Design for Good program grew out of a national initiative by current President Doug Powell.

As designers, we have powerful skills that can be used to communicate, activate, engage, and motivate a community around social issues. AIGA encourages all designer to donate at 5% of their time to a deserving non-profit. This pro bono work is encouraged and falls outside the realm of spec work.

Locally, AIGA Portland’s first Design for Good Committee partnered with the local non-profit The Right Brain Initiative, to work on further developing Brain Food, creative and exploratory activities for children. The Right Brain Initiative is a local arts education partnership that engages children and adults in imaginative and exploratory learning experiences. Brain Food activities integrate an artistic approach with other school subject areas, modeling the kind of learning that Right Brain brings students and teachers. Brain Food activities were imagined by AIGA participants in a Brain Food Thinkstorm event in September 2011.

Brain Food was also modeled in The Lab at the Museum of Contemporary Craft in honor of their Project H exhibit. The collaborative exhibit was called, Brain Food Lab presents ProtoTown. The ProtoTown exhibit engaged children and parents to create a small-scale replica city in the museum from found/reused materials.

On the agenda for early 2012 is to form the expanded Brain Food challenges into a full physical activity deck that will be given away at public schools and available at local retailers.