AWDA, Aiap Women in Design Award, is the first global award dedicated to women in design, with the fourth edition of this biennial. Award opens to international women designers with a focus in visual communication design. In keeping with Aiap’s extensive design research activities, the Award aims at acknowledging the contribution of women designers past and present.
In this celebration of women in design, the Award investigates the idioms, poetics and different approaches to visual communication design by identifying contributions, and by highlighting testimonies, styles and trends by women. A valuable design resource, AWDA reframes the universe of women in design as a diversity of experiences, languages, excellences, styles, and approaches to design. AWDA is ideated and organized by Cinzia Ferrara, Laura Moretti, Carla Palladino and Daniela Piscitelli, since 2012 with Aiap, Associazione italiana design della comunicazione visiva. From 2019 AWDA will be in partnership with ico-D, the International Council of Design. Thank’s to this agreement AWDA will be support by Graphill, Norwegian Association for Visual Communication, and ADGI, Asosiasi Desainer Grafis Indonesia.
In the next 10-11 May during the Regional Meeting in Graz, and with World Design Day approaching, ico-D seeks to highlight and honour women designers around the globe with this year’s theme: Women in Design. During the celebration, will be announced the AWDA international call for entry.
AWDA AIMS:
- to bring to light women’s role in design history, an area that has been under-explored both in Italy and worldwide. This re-framing of history (or histories) of visual communication design is not only through its leading figures or those who have been historicised already, but through the myriad of professionals who, each in their own peculiar way, have contributed to the spreading of design culture.
- to be a space that honors and observes women in design, valuing the “hidden feminine dimension”. This refers to the new production modes which foreground process management and the production of sharing in an a-temporal, a-modern dimension, in which the feminine qualities of adaptability and flexibility dictate the rules of the game.
- to give voice to under-represented work, often done by women, in countries where capacity-building for women and promoting women’s work is still not equal.
Participation in the Award is open to women visual communication designers only, applicable to four sections of the Award, which address various phases in the educational and professional life of a woman designer’s career. The four categories are aimed at professionals, researchers and teachers, students, and a special career award. The latter is for women designers who have stood out in their career either for their professional achievements or for providing a major contribution to reflections on design culture. It may also be interpreted as an award ‘in memory of’.
The projects submitted in compliance with the terms of the call will be selected by an international jury made up of leading figures in the field of communication design.
Among all the works deemed suitable for publication, the jury will choose the woman graphic designer winner of the Aiap Women in Design Award 2019 and will award the honorary mentions. The official award-giving ceremony will take place in October 2019.
For more information: www.aiap-awda.com
In partnership of:
AGI, ADI, Confcommercio Professioni, Dcomedesign POLI.design, aisdesign,
Feminin Pluriel Italia, Momowo, Plugcreativity
With the support of:
Tiburtini, Lectorinfabula
Media partner:
PAD journal
