Click to See Complete Forum and Search --> : Which design group should I join?
wienerdog
10-04-2005, 05:40 PM
I'm a designer that's been out of school for a little over 2 years and am interested in joining either the Graphic Arts Guild or AIGA. It seems the membership dues are a bit pricey for where I'm at in my career, so I think if I decide to join, it'll have to only be one. Do newbies benefit from these groups very much? Is there one you'd recommend above the other? Is there a major difference between the two?
It seemed AIGA had more benefits, such as a job bank, etc. Just curious what others thought.
Mynock
10-04-2005, 07:35 PM
I'd like to know also.
wienerdog
10-06-2005, 05:11 PM
Wow, I'm surprised no one's chimed in on this. Does anyone belong to one of the groups?
Rocketpig
10-06-2005, 05:13 PM
I used to belong to GAG but never really used any of their services or went to any of their meetings.
Honestly, it seems like a waste of money but others might have better experiences than I did.
aiga has an exclusive photoshop magazine, that is a +
but i hevent joined either, would prolly join aiga just for the magazine, lmao
morea
10-06-2005, 08:05 PM
I used to belong to GAG but never really used any of their services or went to any of their meetings.
Honestly, it seems like a waste of money but others might have better experiences than I did.
^^ this is what I have heard from the majority of people I know that belonged to one of those organizations.
Aside from GAG and AIGA, is NAPP any good? Anybody?
Drorain
10-08-2005, 12:11 AM
dont bother, membership fees are way to much, and even being a member the lectures are still expensive to get into with aiga
PrintDriver
10-08-2005, 12:29 AM
Spend the money on going to a conference or two. Network that way and learn more for less. I have yet to see either of the two offer anything of use.
Not that they are for everyone but there is also the SGIA and the SEGD
It seems though that none of these communities are very active online. It takes weeks to get answers on any of their forums. Guess I'm just spoiled here.
wienerdog
10-10-2005, 03:36 PM
Spend the money on going to a conference or two. Network that way and learn more for less. I have yet to see either of the two offer anything of use.
Not that they are for everyone but there is also the SGIA and the SEGD
It seems though that none of these communities are very active online. It takes weeks to get answers on any of their forums. Guess I'm just spoiled here.
Wow, that's disappointing. I was hoping you'd get access to some good work through AIGA, American Institute of Graphic Arts (I'm going to spell out the group name, in case anyone's not familiar with it), especially considering their website has a job bank.
I have yet to go to a conference. I've yet to really 'network' at all in this industry. There's a local group near me made of designers, but I have yet to attend due to location and schedule conflicts.
Jason Fraker
10-10-2005, 03:52 PM
I belong to NAPP, and have been to the past two MacDesign Conferences. I think it's a pretty good investment, and I enjoy both Layers (formerly Mac Design Maganzine) and Photoshop User magazines. For what it's worth, I joined AIGA as a student, and found it to be very inactive in my neck of the woods. I have no idea how good their national events are.
I belong to a more local group, the Digital Media Association of Alberta (formerly the Alberta New Media Association, formerly the Adobe Community of Edmonton, formerly the Edmonton Adobe Users Group), which was very active for a season here, then simply died.
Does anybody know anything about the two Canadian design groups, the Graphic Design Group of Canada or the Registered Graphic Designers of Ontario?
morea
10-10-2005, 05:36 PM
you may find this thread helpful, Ned:
http://www.graphicdesignforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=6300
Thank you, Morea, that was VERY helpful. :)
morea
10-10-2005, 05:50 PM
hooray! :D
wienerdog
10-10-2005, 06:41 PM
Wow, that's interesting! Ontario has legislated an official title of Registered Graphic Designer? Man, I would LOVE for the US to do that. It seems the profession is not treated with enough dignity.
Very much agreed! That is one of the biggest problems in the world of Graphic Design is the lack of accountability and certification. That is why I took my certification with Adobe Systems, Inc., being a world-recognized institution, and still touted the toughest certification of its type. It still doesn't help that much in a world where everybody thinks they know how to use Photoshop, or 'design' in Publisher, and their dog knows HTML and how to 'make a website'.
Graphic Designers need to be able to say, 'Yes, I'm a registered graphic designer. I'm a member of the BBB, certified by so-and-so, and licensed by the state.' You can trust me.
JaCkinbOx
06-21-2007, 10:26 PM
Cops are licensed by the state, too, but that doesn't make them dependable and worthy of trust. Same goes for the FDA and other government organizations.
Sorry to bring up an old thread. :b I was referred to this thread after asking if AIGA is worth joining or not. Sounds like a no.
wienerdog
07-15-2007, 03:31 AM
I began wondering the same thing. I've been flirting with the idea of going back to doing contract work, especially now that I have more web design experience. The hourly rate for contract work in web design is coming up as WAY higher in my area than many general graphic design jobs, and wondered if GAG or AIGA would have discounted Health Insurance memberships. It looks like my state doesn't get a good discounted rate, unfortunately. I wonder if these groups would still be beneficial.
AIGA has a job posting board, but I'd hate to join and find out there's very very little activity.