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RGD's Year in Review: 2019
06/01/20

RGD closed out the decade with many exciting accomplishments connecting, supporting, promoting and inspiring Canadian graphic designers. 

 

As we enter 2020, we look back on some of the highlights of the past year and what's coming up in the year ahead.  

 

RGD's 2019 by the Numbers

  • welcomed 2,252 new Members
  • certified 57 RGDs
  • organized 2 DesignThinkers Conferences with 2,280 attendees
  • sent 56 e-newsletters to 22,000 subscribers
  • increased our social media following by 3,650 to 32,000
  • advertised 235 jobs
  • presented 38 professional development webinars to 2,000 attendees;
  • launched 2 new In-House Design Conferences in Ottawa and Vancouver with 240 attendees
  • bestowed 51 In-House Design Awards from 300 entries
  • distributed $20,000 in prize money and 70 certificates recognizing excellence to students from 22 schools from 958 entries
  • distributed $8,500 in cash and free registrations to emerging designers as DesignThinkers Scholarships
  • provided over 1,000 virtual and in-person portfolio reviews
  • matched 52 emerging designers with Mentors

 

"RGD allows designers to come together to discuss industry related concerns and trends. Being a Member allows you to reference materials like webinars and DT presentations at all times, so you never feel in the dark about critical topics." -- Emily Henderson Prov RGD  

 

 

RGD's 2019 Achievements

Perhaps more importantly, RGD continued to advocate on behalf of the profession and raise the profile of graphic design across Canada. In 2019, RGD:

  • developed a unified Code of Ethics for Canada's 3 graphic design associations;
  • published a super-sized 2nd edition of our Accessibility Guidelines
  • launched a Slack Workspace for Professional Members
  • co-published the first print publication for DesignThinkers (Live Magazine, with Frontier)
  • presented DesignThinker of the Year to the Founders of Herschel, Mejuri and Greenhouse Juice
  • created a Best Practices document for design contests
  • advocated against speculative creative with many positive changes made to RFPs and contests

 

"RGD keeps me in the know, inspires me to create, gets me thinking of new approaches, inspires me to learn new things and enlightens me about industry trends, events, methods and technology. Being a Member helps me grow as a professional, gives me a standard to uphold and helps me back up my decisions by having a Code of Ethics to support my choices." -- Alyson von Massow Prov RGD 

 

 

RGD's 2020: What's Next

Stay tuned for more information on the exciting new initiatives and returning programs coming up in 2020: 

 

Initiatives 

  • New guidelines for skills testing 
  • New resources for practising sustainability
  • NoSpec! Social media campaign 
  • Joint Certification with GDC 
  • New video communications to promote RGD, DesignThinkers and our industry

Events

Awards