This September, AIGA Arizona hosted Design for Social Change, a lecture and workshop at LaneTerralever. The  event was born out of the Design for Good initiative to use design thinking to enact social good.

The event kicked off with a lecture from Brian Higgins, an accomplished graphic designer and adjunct professor at Benedictine University in Mesa. Professor Higgins has devoted the last two and a half years of his life to a journey of design discovery that culminated in a new book called The History of Now.

Sharing examples from famous graphic designers, Professor Higgins threw light on how designers have focused their work for social good, and how can one get involved working on today’s social challenges. The lecture was motivating to designers looking to take that step towards implementing their ideas for the betterment of social causes.

The workshop was open-ended and gave a chance for participants to focus on their area of interest. The attendees had a discussion around topics of interest, and formed groups of four to five to start thinking about strategy and implementation. Then they worked together to come up with some brilliant ideas on topics from how to get people to vote to public health to homelessness issues.

At the end of the workshop each group presented their ideas for a cause to drive social change. Participants had great ideas and received great feedback and input from their peers and Professor Higgins.

As a result of the workshop the group decided to stay connected and continue to work towards implementing some of the ideas conceived during the workshop. The virtual group is helping to bounce ideas off each other and motivate their peers.

This seems like a great start towards an informed group of design thinkers coming together to drive social change in our local Phoenix community and work towards the betterment of society.

Join us here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/designforgood/