AIGA Chicago is now accepting proposals, until Friday, February 2, 2018.

 AIGA Chicago is committed to creating opportunities for design students to engage with the broader community. This year, the chapter is offering two Boost Grants of up to $750 each for student groups, which they can use to help bring projects of their design to fruition.

Student groups are invited to submit proposals for projects that employ design in meaningful, community-oriented ways—whether it’s exposing budding student talent to the Chicago professional sector, or fostering social change through design. Of particular interest are projects that address one of AIGA Chicago’s areas of civic engagement: diversity, women’s leadership, preventing violence, and education for all ages.

Past recipients have applied funds from the Boost Grant towards design projects that benefited community outreach initiatives and non-profit educational organizations, or to organize workshops on design for social impact.

Eligibility, Requirements & Stipulations:

AIGA Chicago will accept submissions from any active student group affiliated with the Chicago chapter of AIGA. Active groups are groups with 10 or more members and a faculty advisor who has completed the annual agreement.
The proposed project must be completed (printed, published, or otherwise made public) before June 29, 2018.

• Projects must be accessible to the Chicagoland design community, not just students of the hosting group’s institution.
• Please prepare a line item budget demonstrating how grant funds will be used to cover project costs. *Note, funds may not be used to purchase food or alcohol for events.
  If you are a grant recipient, AIGA Chicago will ask that you share the results of your work via images, text, or presentations to the board.
  If you are a grant recipient, you must provide receipts of all purchases related to project. Any funds not verifiably spent on project may need to be returned to AIGA Chicago.

Apply Now

• Complete the application before Friday, February 2, 2018.
• Create a single PDF (no larger than 10mb) containing visuals that help convey the context of your project. Label all images with title, author, media and date. In your file, please also include your school, faculty advisor, student group leader and contact details for both. Submit this file via email by Friday, January 26th to education@chicago.aiga.org

Important Dates

Proposal Due: Friday, February 2, 2018

Grant Recipient Announced: February, 2018

Proposals will be judged by a committee of judges, and will be based on clarity of intent; feasibility; perceived impact on the student group undertaking the project and the community/audience it aims to engage.

If you have any questions regarding the submission process, please contact Amir Berbic, AIGA Chicago VP of Education, at amir@chicago.aiga.org.

Thank you to One Design Company for the artwork.