International Design Celebration 2024

For 27 years, our chapter put on the Y Design Conferences. 2024 is a special year as San Diego, California, and Tijuana, BC, Mexico together share the designation of the 2024 World Design Capital (WDC). This is the first binational designation of the WDC and the first time a U.S. city has received this prestigious award.

As part of this year-long celebration throughout 2024, we hosted the International Design Celebration (IDC) in October. The event was comprised of 4 experiences– the Summit, the Training, the Showcase + Party, and a bonus Design Excursion to Tijuana. These events gathered passionate designers and educators from North America and around the globe to share their experiences and perspectives. 

IDC hosted designers representing many different educational institutions and design organizations, including International Council of Design (ICoD), The Graphic Artists Guild, AIGA chapters across the U.S., and Tijuana Design Week. 

Keynote Speakers, Facilitators, & Panelists included: 

• Doug Powell, Executive Design Leader, Consultant, Coach
• Ruki Neuhold-Ravikumar, Design Strategist & Leadership Consultant, Professor of Practice in Graphic Design, Public Speaker & Workshop Facilitator
• MaeLin Levine, AIGA SDTJ President and Principal/Founder of Visual Asylum
• Bennett Peji, Past AIGA SDTJ President
• Stacey Edelstein, Co-founder & Creative Director at Raygun; Organizing Tijuana Design Week & CreativeMornings San Diego
• Bill Grant, Mayor of Canton, GA, President of Grant Design Collaborative 
• Johnathon Strebly (Canada, ICoD representative)
• Jonas Liugaila (Lithuania, ICoD representative)
• Melike Taşcıoğlu Vaughan (Turkey, ICoD representative)
• Professor Kaleena Sales, Tennessee State University, editor of Centered: People + Ideas Diversifying Design
• Sadie Red Wing, Lakota graphic designer, advocate & educator
• Dina Benbrahim, Assistant Professor of Graphic Design at the University of Connecticut
• Shantanu Suman, Associate Professor at Ball State University 

The Awards program honored the following designers:

• AIGA Fellows – Susan Merritt and Dave Conover
• Design Community Partner – Neyenesch Printers
• Design Leadership – Katalina Silva & Arturo Elenes, Enigma Creative
• 2024 AIGA Susan Merritt Scholarship winner, Marco Estrada, and finalists: Noelle Daunch, Aqua Bajor, and José Martínez
• 2024 AIGA Candice López Scholarship winner, Marlene Arias, and finalists: Yoon Kang, William Gordon, Shania Tayag, and Jaimie McKay
• All of the 2024 Showcase designs

While many took the stage throughout IDC, all four of the events were also about building and deepening the connections between the designers in the room. So many different stories were represented! It was a unique opportunity to forge special bonds with leaders, thinkers, and doers across our region and the world.

To learn more and stay in touch, visit www.internationaldesigncelebration.com.