Once a year, AIGA local chapters gather their members together to discuss the state of affairs both at the national and the chapter levels.

This year’s AIGA Honolulu Membership Luncheon was held on June 22, 2017 at Bethel Union in Chinatown. There was a wide range of members in attendance, from students to industry pros.

After a quick ice breaker, everyone got down to the important stuff. Lunch.

Attendees enjoyed an amazing spread by Bethel Union.

We gave a quick presentation outlining our membership levels, our new board and our objectives. Looking at the year ahead, the chapter board members asked ourselves, “How can AIGA Honolulu best support our members and advance design in Honolulu?” Our objectives for the 2017-2018 calendar year are to:

Through a calendar year chock full of inspiring and strategic events and initiatives, AIGA Honolulu looks to empower designers at every stage of their careers and ensure that the general business community understands how good design can support a company’s bottom line.

In fact, as chapter president Malia Wisch shared, design-led companies have shown to outperform their counterparts. A recent study by The Design Management Institute analyzed the performances of US companies committed to design as an integral part of their business strategy. The results show that over the last 10 years, design-led companies have maintained significant stock market advantage, outperforming the S&P by an extraordinary 211%.

In the years ahead, AIGA Honolulu will continue its work towards pushing this message to the local business community, and thereby helping provide more and better-paying jobs for local graphic designers.

For more details, you can download the presentation.