AIGA Minnesota
Names Three 2014 Fellows August 7, 2014

MINNEAPOLIS — August 7, 2014

The Minnesota chapter of AIGA, the professional association for design, is pleased to announce the selection of Jo Davison, Dale Johnston, and Doug Powell as recipients of the distinguished AIGA Fellow Award.

The AIGA Fellow award program recognizes design practitioners and/or educators who have made a significant contribution to raising the standard of excellence in practice and conduct within their local or regional design community as well as their local AIGA chapter. Contributions in education, writing, and leadership, as well as reputation and the practice of design, are given equal consideration. The Fellow Award is the highest honor an AIGA chapter may bestow upon one of its members.

Minnesota’s 2014 Fellows were chosen from member nominations by a subcommittee of the AIGA Minnesota chapter board, and approved by the board. They will be publicly honored at a special event on October 10, 2014, and their names will be added to the national list of AIGA Fellows. Details regarding the October 10 event will be announced on the AIGA Minnesota website.

Previous AIGA Minnesota Fellows are Peter Seitz (2000); Tim Larsen (2007); Sue Crolick, Joe Duffy, Eric Madsen (2010); John DuFresne, Monica Little, and Heather Olson (2012). Fellows are now honored by AIGA Minnesota every two years.

Jo Davison is known for her exceptional design leadership and passion for arts education. An outspoken design advocate and mentor, she has inspired the young and experienced alike. Her significant expertise in print and digital design has benefited clients at Larsen, The Edison Group, and McCool & Co. for more than 30 years. Sixteen of those years were also spent teaching at the College of Visual Arts, where she helped guide numerous students to successful futures in design. Jo’s work has received many honors, including recognition from AIGA, Communication Arts, Critique, Graphis, HOW, and the Type Directors Club. She participated in Samsung’s national product reviews in 2010 and 2011, was included in CVA’s Leaders of Design exhibit in 2011, and juried the Communication Arts Design Annual in 2014. Jo currently serves on the University of Minnesota College of Design Advisory Board, and is a past member of the University
of Wisconsin–Stout Professional Advisory Board. Jo’s AIGA connection runs deep, having served as a member of the National Board Nominating and Medalist committees, AIGA Minnesota chapter president, Design Camp chair, and 365: AIGA Design Annual Exhibition
judge. She holds a bachelor’s degree in environmental design from the University of Minnesota.

Dale K. Johnston received a B.F.A. in Graphic Design at the Minneapolis School of Art in 1962. Prior to Minneapolis School of Art (later to be named Minneapolis College of Art and Design), Dale studied two years at other universities and served four years in the U.S. Navy. Upon graduation, Dale joined the General Motors Styling Staff at the GM Technical Center followed by a year at Chrysler Corporation, two years at Deere & Company, and one year at Control Data. In 1969, Dale formed Design Center Inc. in Minnesota, serving as president until 1985 when Johnston Design Office Inc. was established and operated until semi-retirement in 2005. Dale was one of the founders of the Minnesota Graphic Designers Association (MGDA) and served as president in 1982. MGDA became AIGA Minnesota in 1986. In 1990, Dale traveled with a group of sixteen U.S. graphic designers to the Soviet Union to exchange design experience with Russian designers in Moscow and Leningrad. Dale has personally designed numerous identity programs, packaging systems, family history books, educational products, and government projects for the past 52 years.

Doug Powell, formerly of Minnesota, is a Design Principal and Director of Education & Activation at IBM Design in Austin, Texas. In this role, Doug is helping to build the new vision for design at one of the largest and most successful companies in the world. Prior to joining IBM in 2013, Doug was an independent designer, strategist and entrepreneur, based in Minneapolis, leading successful projects for a wide range of clients and collaborative partners in health and nutrition, including the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Lifescan, and Pepsico. Doug was a consulting Creative Director for HealthSimple, working in close collaboration with the Johnson & Johnson Global Design team. Doug is a past chapter president of AIGA Minnesota and past national president of AIGA. He has been a leading force in the successful launch of Design for Good, the AIGA initiative to ignite, amplify, and accelerate design-driven social change. A 1988 graduate of the School of Art at Washington University in St. Louis, Doug is a lecturer, commentator, and thought leader on design issues, having presented at a variety of national conferences and forums including Bright Ideas on Minnesota Public Radio, the 2011 Mayo Clinic Transform Conference, and the 2012 TEDx ArtCenter.

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For more information contact Linda Henneman, Director of Design Impact, AIGA Minnesota,
[email protected] or 612-338-3226.