2020 Responsible Designers to Watch

Sponsored by Domtar

As a complement to our perennial and popular special reports — People To Watch (newsmakers and influencers) and Students To Watch (rising graduates of note) and Educators To Watch (influential teachers) — we have added an annual “Responsible Designers To Watch” to the editorial mix. Growing organically out of our longtime “green design” coverage, we are responding to the fact that creative professionals are embracing responsibility writ large in terms of how sustainably they create and produce, yes, but more broadly how, when, why and for whom they work.

The common thread: these are creative and thought leaders who use design principles, talents and skills to make the world a better place as they see it. And, in 2020, this is especially meaningful since they are working against the backdrop of a transformational pandemic, a societal reckoning with racial and economic inequality, a bruising national political campaign, a turn toward local and grass roots activity, and a crying need to heal a tearing social fabric. For 57 years, GDUSA has argued that graphic design is a valuable tool for shaping commerce, culture and causes, and should be recognized and rewarded as such. Never has this proposition been as true.

Gus Granger Dio Jensen
Cornell Beard Kelli Miller
Arturo Martinez Kacy Lamb
David Langton + Jim Keller Sarah E. Rutherford
Andrew Brynjulson Leslie Greenly Smith
Sam Aquillano Rinat Aruh
Nancy Abbott Heather Barbis
Gianmaria Schonlieb Pam Tremble
Valerie Aurilio Annabel Mangold
Jennifer Bergamini Kelly O’Halloran

More thoughts on designing for good during (and, hopefully, in the aftermath of) a pandemic by GDUSA publisher Gordon Kaye.