AIGA - Becoming a Member and Utilizing Your Membership in Australia

AIGA is perhaps best known as the only professional body that covers professionals working in the web design field. As the profession is largely unregulated and "unprofessionalised", the AIGA is perhaps the best body to represent those in the field. In this blog post, we look at the benefits of becoming a member outside of America and whether it's a worthwhile investment. 

The Background
​AIGA is a professional organization for design, founded as the "American Institute of Graphic Arts". Members include professionals working in web design,, graphic design, typography and branding. 

The Basics
For around $70 Australian/year, any designer or agency can join AIGA. As you move up the membership level pecking order, the benefits increase. We are members at the entry level, and have been for two years. 

The Benefits
As we're based in Australia, physical benefits for an overseas are limited, with no overseas chapters or communities. AIGA goes as west as Hawaii and as east as Long Island, but there is no restriction in setting up your own Meetup group for AIGA members wherever you may be. However, there are some very positive benefits that are not dependent on your location:

• Any member can find or list a job on the AIGA design board. We've used it for posting jobs which some success. 
• Access to a HUGE number of online tutorials and workshops. This is most likely going to be of significant value. 

The Bottom Line
While the benefits seem to be more targeted at American based members, and the offering below "Supporter Level" is confined to quasi "freemium" perks, a web design or digital agency may get benefit when it comes to recruitment as the job-posting option is free and effective. Do note that the membership profiles seem to be hidden from Google so be sure to include your profile in all of your portfolio marketing. 

Are you an AIGA member living outside of America? Are you in Australia? We welcome your thoughts below.