Five design industry greats will be honored at the 2016 AIGA Awards Gala. Ruth Ansel, Richard Grefé, Gere Kavanaugh, Sister Corita Kent, and Maira Kalman will receive the 2016 AIGA Medals for their lifetime achievements and contributions to the design profession.
"Design is playing an increasingly important contribution to every walk of life. It improves the human condition and lifts the human spirit. The AIGA Medal represents the pinnacle of accomplishment in our profession," commented AIGA executive director Julie Anixter. "We're honored to be able to celebrate and bring greater public recognition for these five extraordinary individuals- role models in the truest sense-and to welcome them to the select community of AIGA Medalists."
Ruth Ansel is recognized as a legendary art director who helped shape the cultural zeitgeist from the pages of Bazaar, and New York Magazine.
Richard Grefé led AIGA as its executive director for 20 years, spearheading countless industry initiatives including Design for Democracy and the AIGA Design Archives.
Gere Kavanaugh is a pioneering multidisciplinary designer whose expert sense of color and style has enlivened everything from textile and type to interiors and exhibitions.
Corita Kent was a spirited as an artist and educator, whose inventive use of graphic type and vibrant color in communicating messages of protest and social change made her an activist icon.
Maira Kalman, best known for her New Yorker covers, brilliantly merges the worlds of storytelling, illustration, and design.
Photo: Andrew Federman