You’re just about to finish design school, or you’re already done (congrats!), and you’re likely asking yourself: what’s next?

AIGA Chicago is offering you the opportunity to take initiative and propose a project that will extend your studies, advance your design research, kickstart your career, or otherwise progress your creative momentum—in a manner that impacts the broader community.

By supporting self-initiated projects and practices of recent graduates, AIGA Chicago hopes to advance individual Chicago designers while strengthening and expanding the creative community that supports them. Our 2017 Individual Student Grant awards $1,500 to assist one recent graduate in initiating a unique, viable and focused design project in Chicago.

If you’re a recent graduate from a Chicago-area design program—or a recent grad working in the Chicago area—and have a project in mind, we encourage you to apply. Follow our simple guidelines below to propose a project that you’d like to undertake within the next six months. We can’t wait to see what’s next for you.

Are you eligible?

• Open to all AIGA Chicago chapter members graduating from a full-time design program within the 2016-2017 academic year (Fall 2016–Fall 2017), regardless of major.
• Applicant must be a current AIGA member. To join AIGA, renew your membership or check on your membership status, go to my.aiga.org. For information about membership levels and the benefits available at each, go to aiga.org/join (You do not need to belong to an AIGA student group to apply).
• Open to recent graduates from both undergraduate and graduate programs.
• The portion of your project supported by these funds must be completed by December 31, 2017.
• AIGA Chicago will ask you to share periodic updates on your process with the AIGA community via blog posts.
• AIGA Chicago will ask you to present the results of your work to our board and the community when the project is complete.

Great! Now apply:
Please complete the application form below, then submit a single PDF containing:

• A proposal describing the work that the award will support: include a title, the concept, a timeline for completion, your objectives or goals, any costs that the award may be used to cover for the production of your work, and how you believe the project will impact your career and the broader design community. No more than two pages describing what you intend to make, write, or otherwise create with the award.
• A portfolio of design work: you may submit more than one image per project but no more than 10 images total. Please include project title, media, and a very brief description of each assignment or project. Label your materials clearly with your name, school affiliation, degree sought, and graduation date.
• A letter of recommendation from a professor in your program.
• Submit your sample images as a single PDF (no larger than 10mb) to education@chicago.aiga.org

Important Dates
Proposal Due: Friday, May 26, 2017
Grant Recipient Announced: June, 2017
Project Complete (with report to AIGA Chicago Board): No later than December 31, 2017

Proposals will be judged by a committee of judges, and will be based on perceived impact on both the designer undertaking the project and the community; clarity of intent; and the feasibility. The grant recipient will be notified and announced publicly June, 2017.

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