Are you struggling to make sense of the pandemic’s uncertainty? How has work from home life affected your design practice this past year? Join other creatives asking the same questions in an interactive digital environment to process the pandemic through the power of community and shared solutions.

In March 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic severed connections across the world. The year that followed included some of the most charged racial, social, environmental, and political upheaval the U.S. has seen in 50 years. In times of conflict, people turn to their communities, families, and friends for comfort, to experience collective emotion, and to process together. But the pandemic suspended community connection, extending to professional groups that haven't been able to share new ideas or solutions to our collective challenges.

This event aims to connect Chicago designers in a social environment to share thoughts and ideas about the past year and acknowledge how the experience has affected our city’s creative community. For two and a half hours, we’ll gather in an interactive digital environment on Gather.town to discuss:

• What has changed about your practice this year? How have work-from-home life and hustle culture affected you during the pandemic?

• How do you collaborate creatively now? What tools have you found that help, and where are areas where you need support?

• Where do we go from here? How are you navigating the transition back to in-person?

The custom Gather.town environment sponsored by Northwestern will feature facilitated small group discussions, and attendees can expect to come away with takeaways that will enhance their remote creative practice. This event is a collaboration between AIGA Chicago and Designing For, a project exploring the pandemic’s impact on design.

Designing for: community will also serve as the launch event for the Designing For podcast, a limited series exploring the pandemic’s impact on design and designers through interviews with ten Chicago designers who work in community. The Designing For podcast was funded in part through a community engagement grant from AIGA Chicago and Do It Better Design. Learn more and follow: designingfor2020.com @designingfor2020

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The link to the Gather.town event will be sent out to you via email a day before the event and again the afternoon of the event.

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About the Organizer

Event chair Nicolette Stosur-Bassett is a creative director and communications strategist with ten years' experience building brands and campaigns for social change.

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Code of Conduct


By registering to attend this event, you agree to abide by AIGA Chicago Code of Conduct. The Code of Conduct may be found here. https://www.aiga.org/code-of-conduct

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Twitter Hashtags & Handles


@aigachicago

@doitbetterdesign

@designingfor2020

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Special thanks to Nicolette Stosur-Bassett for planning this event and for the event graphics. Thanks to Northwestern for hosting this event on Gather.town.