Grow Careers, Build Leadership Skills, Advance The Profession
AIGA has launched a new design certification program geared toward Design Professionals and Design Leaders. In partnership with online learning provider, MindEdge Learning, AIGA is aiming to fill a knowledge gap needed for future advancement of the design profession.
Certifications help to build best practices for the professional and AIGA believes that this new program will help advance the profession, bring design to the executive table, and make design a strategic function in organizations. The knowledge/learning assessment portion of the certification will cover four areas, including: business fundamentals for designers, design foundations, law for designers, and standards of professional practice.
Through this certification, AIGA is looking to create inclusive pathways for those where a degree is not a viable path, and also for those individuals who have learned their craft in action and want to validate their professionalism. This pathway allows for both traditional and non-traditional backgrounds to be included and acknowledged in the profession.
Two professional certifications will be offered as part of this new program. The AIGA Professional Designer certification is aimed at professionals with a least one year of professional experience. The AIGA Design Leader certification is geared towards professionals with at least seven years of professional design experience.
“The AIGA Professional Design Certification represents a commitment to the design profession and to lifelong learning. This new online design certification program is open to design practitioners at every level who are committed to expanding their careers and the profession,” said Manuhuia Barcham, AIGA Board Chair and Principal of Seattle WA-based Archetekt. “I’m excited about this program not only for AIGA but for the future of design.”
“AIGA’s new certification will help designers build skills and establish mastery of their craft, providing them with a long-term competitive advantage,” adds Jefferson Flanders, president and CEO of MindEdge Learning. “We’re delighted to be partnering with AIGA, the oldest and largest professional membership organization for design, to building this new professional certification for the design community.”
