AIGA Design Archives & Special Collections
AIGA’s archives and special collections identify, preserve, and make available works of enduring value. Your support makes it possible to increase access to resources, support research, and elevate the diverse and impactful stories of design and designers.
Inspiration
Documenting the Shifting Aesthetics and Sensibilities of the Design Community for More Than a Century
Installation view “AIGA 100: A Century of Design” at Museum of Design Atlanta (MODA). Photo: Bethany Legg Photography, courtesy of MODA (2014).
DonateExplore our collections and discover the rich history of American communication design.
AIGA’s institutional archive serves as the memory of the organization’s extensive history and association with the century’s most influential designers. The bulk of the collection consists of printed records created by and for AIGA, including exhibition catalogues and design annuals documenting the selections from AIGA competitions since 1915; newsletters and journals published by AIGA since 1922; AIGA conference materials produced since 1985; and flat files of prints, posters, publications, and more by AIGA Medalists and AIGA Chapters.
Resources
Hours
Due to the impact of COVID–19, we regret that we are unable to accept visitors at this time.
1977 EPA Graphic Standards System
A percentage of each sale supports the AIGA Archives.
Get Yours TodayFAQs
All works are the copyright of their respective owners. Because AIGA supports copyright and privacy, AIGA is limited to distributing images, text, or media in the AIGA archives and on its websites. In many cases, AIGA does not hold the copyright to materials in its collections and cannot assume responsibility for determining their copyright status. To publish or quote from work in the AIGA archives and on its websites, it is your responsibility to secure express written permission from the appropriate rights holder.
If work is in the archives and there are no copyright or access restrictions, work may be shared for non-commercial purposes, provided you credit AIGA and link to aiga.org.
All work from the AIGA archives or its websites must be displayed with an appropriate credit line (work title, artist, year, link to where it lives on our website, and the source cited as: AIGA, the professional association for design).
All requests for materials and permission to publish are subject to approval. Copyright restrictions may apply. Please direct inquiries to AIGA’s archivist. Due to COVID-19 and current backlogs, it may take up to 12 weeks to fulfill requests for digitization and/or permission to publish. We are unable to accommodate rush requests.
AIGA's physical collections are stored offsite. There may be a fee for time and materials. By initiating the request for digitization and/or permission to publish, you agree to these terms and to indemnify and hold AIGA harmless from any and all claims, suits and expenses arising from the use of work from the AIGA archives and on its websites.
AIGA Medalist Essay Collection (see also Wayback Machine)
AIGA Medalist Video Collection (see also YouTube)
In addition to the AIGA Medalist essays, research guides are being compiled to surface related content from articles, books, exhibitions and events, websites and online collections, audio, and video. These research guides are located beneath each essay and are currently available for Saul Bass, Ivan Chermayeff and Tom Geismar, Milton Glaser, Leo Lionni, Herb Lubalin, Herbert Matter, Massimo and Lella Vignelli, and Henry Wolf. Research Guides can be a great information literacy assignment for students and educators? Contact AIGA’s archivist to learn more.
Identity: Chermayeff & Geismar & Haviv
A percentage of each sale supports the AIGA Archives.
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