Professional In-House Designers
Events
Lunch Break Series:
Upcoming Lunch Break Series roundtable discussions at 12-1 p.m. on Tuesdays at International Market Square in Minneapolis. Bring your lunch. Free and open to the public.
- March 2: Social Media Policies in Conference Room A
- April 13: Creative Asset Management in Conference Room A
- May 18: Update Your Portfolio in Conference Room B
Questions? Contact Heather Olson.
Coffee Break Series:
Next Event
The upcoming quarterly Coffee Break featuring Amanda Brinkman, Vice President of Branding and Creative Services for Allianz Life, has changed: It is now Tuesday, April 20, at 3:30-5:30 p.m. The presentation will take place at Allianz Life in Minneapolis. Details and registration to come.
Resources
Visit the new InHOWse Designer Blog with Andy Epstein, which "aims to be a unique resource for in-house designers and design managers; a single destination for expert advice from corporate creatives and design consultants," says Epstein. "The goal, most obviously, is to support the in-house design community not only with educational posts, but with some humor and inspirational pieces thrown in as well." So get out of the in-house and join the blogosphere.
Design Standards
At the January 21 In-House Designers Coffee Break panel discussion, we touched on the topic of establishing identity standards and visual system guidelines. Afterward, several attendees indicated interest in sharing guidelines online. Thanks to Julie Selmo, design manager at Internet Broadcasting, we have this link as a resource. Feel free to contact inhousedesigners@minnesota.aiga.org if you have additional resources to recommend.
Guidelines And Standards Manuals of Various Organizations
About the Professional In-House Designers Committee
The Professional In-House Designers Committee was formed in the spring of 2009 as a community of in-house designers that fosters awareness and respect within the AIGA Minnesota chapter by providing resources, support, education, and enhanced programming specific to their needs. With in-house designers making up roughly a third of AIGA Minnesota’s membership, the committee’s goal is to give this group a voice and enhance the connection of in-house designers to the local chapter.
Why should members be involved or participate in the Professional In-House Designers Committee?
Networking with other in-house design professionals is good for you, and it's fun! An active in-house design group in our local chapter will energize your creativity and help you navigate the challenges of being an in-house creative. If you have few peers in the workplace that understand and challenge you creatively, this committee is an outlet where you can discuss trends, issues, and ideas in an environment that supports your creative ideas and pushes you to strive for better results.
How to get involved:
• Contact any of the committee leaders listed here.
• Attend a committee meeting or upcoming chapter event.
• Check out the insightful articles about in-house design.
We look forward to meeting you!
Professional In-House Designers
Committee Co-Chairs
Anna Anderson
Entegris, Inc.
anna_anderson@entegris.com
Micah Manganiello
AAA Minneapolis
mmanganiello@aaaminneapolis.com
AIGA Minnesota Board
Associate Program Director / In-House Designers
Heather Olson
Larsen
inhousedesigners@minnesota.aiga.org
The Professional In-House Designers Survey
The Professional In-House Designers Committee recently conducted an online survey of AIGA Minnesota’s approximately 1,200 chapter members. The goal was to identify in-house designers and gather information to assist in developing programming specific to their needs.
Eighty members participated in the survey — a response rate of nearly 7% of overall membership!
The Results – Who Are In-House Designers?
The majority of respondents were female (71%) between the ages of 30-44 (49%) who have earned a college diploma/bachelor’s degree (73%). Years of design experience ranged from 0-3 years (9%) to 16+ years (27%).
An overwhelming number of respondents (93%) are presently employed full time, working 40-49 hours per week (74%) in a salaried position (77%).
Most work in companies of 500 or more employees (42%) but in small creative teams of 2-5 people (49%) that report to the Marketing department (64%). These companies represent many different industries. From a list of 22 choices, the top three selections were retail (17%) healthcare (15%) and education (10%). Twenty percent selected “Other” with several responses each for non-profit and consulting.
Employers support professional development through design publication subscriptions (71%), software training (71%) and professional memberships (66%).
When asked about their Job Function, the responses varied widely, with the greatest number of respondents selecting Designer/Graphic Designer (66%). The second highest response was Production Artist (26%) with Art Director in third place (21%). The highest percentage of work is in Print Design (40%), followed by Print Production (25%), Creative Direction (24%), Project Management (18%) and Web/New Media Design (17%). Nineteen percent selected “Other”.
Programming Topics of Interest
The number one topic of interest to those surveyed was Inspiration for Creativity (74%), followed closely by business topics, such as Presenting Creative to Non-Creatives and Management (64%); Marketing Strategies (60%); Developing Workflow Processes, Creative Briefs, and Project Timelines (57%); and establishing ROI of creative services (53%).
Respondents expressed an interest in attending mini conferences (73%) or business topic seminars (47%). Many would also like a design competition with in-house focused categories (47%) and a microsite for in-house designers (44%).
The survey concluded with a question on what influences attendance at AIGA events. The most important considerations were topic (70%), time of day (58%), cost (55%), location (46%), and day of week (31%).
Summary
Print design remains strong. The responses would also seem to suggest that Minnesota companies remain committed to keeping design in-house, especially in this troubled economic climate — of those surveyed, 49% responded that 100% of the total creative work was done in-house. To meet this challenge, in-house designers seek to learn more about the business side of design.
The Professional In-House Designers Committee wishes to express their thanks to all who took part in the survey. Your responses were invaluable and will assist us in developing programming of interest to you.
For a complete breakdown of the survey results, download the PDF here.