Announcing Voice: AIGA Journal of Design (redux)

The AIGA Journal is as relentless as the profession in its pursuit of the perfect pitch — whether your sense of design has the subtlety of music or the unending definition of sport. The relaunch of the journal in a digital form seizes the moment to great effect: it can be distributed widely within and beyond the profession while provoking a hearty and open discussion of ideas not possible with a profession that has outgrown the chance to gather together.

Voice: AIGA Journal of Design offers news, views, criticism, and historical analysis unencumbered by a rigid schedule; assures that content is archived for future readers; and places our emphasis on creating content to stimulate thinking about design, rather than investing our resources in printing, paper and mailing. Yet it is titled “Voice” because its most compelling attribute is its ability to take advantage of the impulsive (compulsive?) discussions that have been seen on blogs and wikis in recent months— digital functions that were not even words when the Journal was launched in its last incarnation, Trace, as a journal of visual culture.

The editorial form of the journal will evolve as we experience it together, for a digital journal created by editors and the readers raises interesting questions we look forward to solving. The questions are not new to the web and we know the two polar forms: an open forum without an editor, at one extreme, and an edited journal, without reader contributions, at the other. What should the conventions be when others will look to AIGA for a statement and discover statements under the AIGA banner which reflect personal opinions of one designer rather than the institution? How should we distinguish between solicited and edited content and unsolicited pieces posted without copy editing from someone who is not accountable to AIGA? And what kind of discourse is it appropriate for AIGA’s members to support and encourage?

We will launch Voice providing for both the ethos of responsible print journalism and the openness of the web culture, clearly differentiating between the two. Articles and editorial illustration will be commissioned, edited and published under the Voice banner and for which contributors will receive an honorarium. There will also be reprints of previously published articles not commissioned by AIGA. Our content will be exclusive to Voice. As readers you are not limited to “letters to the editor.” A wide-open discussion of each article or virtually any other topic provoked by the journal’s content will be possible in a related area of www.aiga.org called the AIGA Design Forum. Links from Voice to the forum will be clearly evident, where readers can see what others have to say about ideas presented in Voice. The forum is also where much of the content from the journal will find its audience after its initial publication in Voice, although it will also be available in a Voice archive so that future readers can find it by several paths.

As an open house, the AIGA Design Forum will however be subject to one overarching precept—civility and respect. Thoughtful commentary about design—the process, the work, the artifact, the impact—will be encouraged; capricious personal comments about designers—the professionals—will be discouraged unless based on a legitimate and intelligent evaluation of the work.

Since this is the AIGA site, it will attract readers from the business community, the public and the media as well as members, and we would like it to reflect the kind of respect for design and designers that our members expect from others for their profession. This should not discourage anyone from commenting on ideas, design and craft; however, readers should make use of other sites on the web if their purpose is to chat impulsively, assuage rage, salve frustrations, reveal jealousies or resentments, or express personal taste with charming intensity. While we will encourage a sense of community, we cannot avoid the reality that we are also an institution with a responsibility to its members, future members, and the design profession as a whole. But it is this aspect of the editorial experience that we will have to evaluate together. In making use of the potential of the medium, we have posted our editorial policy on the AIGA Design Forum for discussion.

We are very excited about Voice and the AIGA Design Forum and through it we look forward to reaching new audiences. With all of our love of craft and the beautiful printed artifact, we also believe that this new format opens a conversation about ideas that we feel is critical to our role in advancing the profession.

Richard Grefé, executive director, AIGA