AIGA Honors 2025 Award Recipients for Vision, Leadership, and Cultural Impact in Design

Recipients honored at 2025 AIGA Design Conference in October.

AIGA, the professional association for design, proudly announces the recipients of the 2025 AIGA Medal and Steven Heller Prize for Cultural Commentary.

This year’s honorees represent the best of the design community and represent visionaries who challenge boundaries, elevate education and scholarship, and use design as a catalyst for connection and change. Returning for the first time since 2022, the AIGA Awards celebrate legendary designers, creative writers, and organizations whose work continues to shape the future of the field and inspire generations to come.

These honorees remind us that design is a living dialogue shaped through teaching, writing, and cultural inquiry. Their contributions show us that graphic design is not only a practice, but a way of seeing and shaping the world.
— Sheharazad Fleming, Chair of 2025 Awards Nomination Committee, and President, Corita Art Center | The Great Discontent | WE MUST BE BOLD

2025 AIGA MEDALISTS

Since 1920, AIGA has awarded the AIGA Medal, the most distinguished honor in the profession of communication design, to individuals in recognition of their exceptional achievements to the advancement of the field of design as a respected craft, strategic advantage, and vital cultural force.

Maria Giudice

Recognized for her achievement, Giudice has shaped generations of design leaders through her pioneering work in human-centered design, mentorship, and authorship. As founder of Hot Studio and former design executive at Facebook and Autodesk, she continues to empower creative professionals to lead with empathy and imagination.

Rick Griffith

Recognized for his enrichment of the design community through his advocacy, teaching, and civic engagement, Griffith’s work bridges design and social responsibility, demonstrating that creativity and activism can coexist as powerful partners for change.

Elizabeth Resnick

Recognized for her achievement, Resnick’s decades-long career as an educator, curator, and author has redefined design pedagogy and elevated underrepresented voices in the global design canon. Her exhibitions and scholarship illuminate the social and political dimensions of graphic design worldwide.

Dorothy E. Hayes (Posthumous)

Honored for her groundbreaking contributions as a designer and educator, Dorothy E. Hayes championed equity and access in design education. A true trailblazer, her commitment to representation and inclusion paved the way for future generations of Black designers. Her enduring legacy continues to inspire the ongoing reexamination of design history and its narratives.

2025 STEVEN HELLER PRIZE FOR CULTURAL COMMENTARY RECIPIENTS

Established in 2017, the Steven Heller Prize for Cultural Commentary celebrates critical thinking about design and the profession, and encourages development in the next generation of design voices through a variety of media.

Cheryl D. Holmes Miller, PhD

An acclaimed designer, author, and theologian, Dr. Cheryl D. Miller has spent her career redefining the cultural narrative of design. From her landmark essay “Black Designers: Missing in Action” to her recent publications HERE: Where the Black Designers Are and Decolonizing Graphic Design: A Black Perspective, Miller continues to illuminate design’s intersections with race, equity, and social transformation.

Michele Y. Washington

A designer, researcher, and critic, Michele Washington advances design discourse through her writing, curation, and civic work. Her cross-disciplinary practice-spanning museums, cultural heritage, and urban design-reveals how design shapes identity, community, and storytelling.

Robin Landa

A distinguished professor and best-selling author, Robin Landa has shaped generations of designers and advertisers through her scholarship and teaching. Her influential works on creativity, branding, and storytelling have bridged academia and industry, inspiring new standards for ethical, human-centered design communication.

Nominations from the community are accepted year-round and are considered for the next awards cycle. Nominations carry over year-after-year and are reviewed by a committee that represents the design profession. Recommendations are then presented to the AIGA Board of Directors.

“Leading the 2025 AIGA Awards has been an inspiring journey! I was honored to participate in the discussions with the jury committee and help select these honorees from a very competitive pool of designers with decades of impact in the design community. Celebrating their careers and contributions in person at the conference was truly unforgettable. I’m proud to have helped elevate stories that define our collective creative legacy.” said Giulia Donatello, Design Competitions and Event Manager at AIGA.

“It was a pleasure to work among our dedicated jurors to consider so many deserving candidates for these important awards. Our industry (and community) are strengthened by honoring its stewards.” said Reggie Tidwell, AIGA National Board and Partner at 40 Hearts.

This year’s committee members comprised diverse backgrounds and thinking in design. They put careful thought and time into shaping and recommending a new slate of nominees and we thank them for their time and commitment to honoring design and designers.

2025 AIGA Awards Committee:

• Sheharazad Fleming, AIGA Awards Chair, President at Corita Art Center | The Great Discontent | WE MUST BE BOLD
• Reggie Tidwell, AIGA National Board, Partner at 40 Hearts
• Sean Adams, Dean Visual Art & Communication at ArtCenter College of Design, 2014 AIGA Medalist
• Lisa Maione, Principal/Designer at For Instance, a design studio | Associate Professor of Graphic Design at Kansas City Art Institute
• Jae-eun Chung, Creative Director at RAA (Ralph Appelbaum Associates)
• Rob Harrigan, Experience Design Lead at JP MorganChase

To learn more about AIGA’s awards, click here. Nominations are now open for the 2026 AIGA Awards.

AIGA
https://www.aiga.org | @AIGAdesign

AIGA, the professional association for design, advances design as a professional craft, strategic advantage, and vital cultural force. As the largest community of design advocates, AIGA brings together practitioners, enthusiasts, and patrons to amplify the voice of design and creates the vision for a collective future. AIGA defines global standards and ethical practices, guides design education, inspires designers and the public, enhances professional development, and makes powerful tools and resources accessible to all.

All images courtesy of AIGA.

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