Members of the Institute are involved in the design and production of books, magazines, and periodicals as well as corporate, environmental, and promotional graphics. Their contributions of specialized skills and expertise provide the foundation for the Institute's programs. Through the Institute, members form an effective, informal network of professional assistance that is a resource to the profession and the public.

Separately incorporated, the thirty-seven AIGA chapters enable designers to represent their profession collectively on a local level. Drawing upon the resources of the national organization, chapters sponsor a wide variety of programs dealing with all areas of graphic design.

By being a part of a national network, bringing in speakers and exhibitions from other parts of the country and abroad, focusing on new ideas and technical advances, and discussing business practice issues, the chapters place the profession of graphic design in an integrated and national context.

The competitive exhibition schedule at the Institute's national gallery in New York includes the annual 'Book Show' and 'Communication Graphics'. Other exhibitions include 'Illustration, Photography, Covers' (book jackets, compact disks, magazines, and periodicals), 'Posters, Signage', and 'Packaging'. The exhibitions travel nationally and are reproduced in 'Graphic Design USA'. Acquisitions have been made from AIGA exhibitions by the Popular and Applied Arts Division of the Library of Congress. Each year, the 'Book Show' is donated to the Rare Book and Manuscript Library of Columbia University, which houses the AIGA collection of award-winning books dating back to the 1920s. For the past twelve years, the 'Book Show' has also been exhibited at the Frankfurt Book Fair.

The AIGA sponsors a biennial national design conference, covering such topics as professional practice, education, technology, the creative process, and design history. The 1995 design conference was held in Seattle. In 1994, the AIGA also instituted a business conference, to be held biennially. The 1996 business conference will be held in New York.

The AIGA also sponsors an active and comprehensive publications program. Publications include 'Graphic Design USA', the annual of the Institute; the 'AIGA Journal of Graphic Design', published quarterly; 'Graphic Design: A Career Guide and Education Directory'; the 1994 'Salary and Benefits Survey; Symbol Signs', second edition (the accompanying portfolio of fifty passenger/pedestrial symbols originally designed for the U.S.Department of Transportation is also available on disk); the 'AIGA Membership and Resource Directory'; the 'AIGA Standard Form of Agreement' (contract); and the 'Graphic Design Education Statement'.

Source
16th Annual of the American Institute of Graphic Arts 1995