American Center for Design

American Center for Design

esigners beyond Chicago and the Midwest, and its leadership began to include a mix of local and national board members. In 1989, as a result of this growth and enlarged geographic focus, STA changed its name to the American Center of Design (ACD). The organization continued to focus on design education and the elevation of public taste in graphic design, in addition to addressing the relationship of design and business through conferences, publications, seminars, and other programs. ACD was particularly concerned with new technologies, research, and ideas affecting the design profession. It explored these topics at its “100 Show,” a national curated design competition organized annually; through essays and criticism published in its design journals, including “Design Year in Review” and “People, Not Markets,” and in its “Quarterly Practice” newsletter; and at its “Annual Surfaces” conferences for professionals from the design and business sectors, the first of which was held in November of 1993. ACD also offered an annual conference every spring from 1991 to 1996 for students of design. These involved portfolio reviews and presentations by professionals in the field. ACD’s 1995 publication Interact included a CD-ROM with integrated content, demonstrating the organization’s interest in exploring new modes of interaction between print and digital design. 

ACD was recognized among I.D. (The International Design Magazine)’s inaugural “I.D. Forty” issue in 1993. Its editors highlighted the organization’s commitment to “generating debate about the focus, values, and judgments instrumental to the future of good design” and described ACD as “a rare resource of information” for designers. As ACD’s national visibility grew, it lost its local footing, membership among Chicago designers waned, and its financial future became tenuous. These difficulties were compounded as a growing number of new organizations and programs devoted to graphic design began to take hold in both business and design and as AIGA reestablished its regional chapters in cities like Chicago. ACD could not sustain itself in this environment and was liquidated by its board in April 2002.

An ad-hoc group of former STA members based in Chicago continued to meet independently after the formation of the American Center for Design. This group committed themselves to securing Chicago’s graphic design history through conferences like Chicago by Design, organized by Jack Weiss and George Thompson in 1999, which assessed the holdings of design archives in Chicago, including those at the University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago Historical Society (now the Chicago History Museum), the Newberry Library, and Northwestern University. STA formally organized as a new, separate organization in 1999 and continues its activities today. 

“American Center for Design’s ‘Interact’ CD-ROM.” I.D. 42, no. 4 (August 1, 1995): 91.

American Center for Design Records, 1927–1944, Chicago History Museum Research Center.

Blauvelt, Andrew. “Calling for the New Imagists.” Eye 5, no. 17 (June 1, 1995): 84.

Comberg, David. “Living Surfaces.” I.D. 43, no. 1 (February 1996): 90–91.

Coupland, Ken. “The 100 Show: The Sixteenth Annual of the American Center for Design.” Graphis 50, no. 294 (December 1, 1994): 22.

Coupland, Ken. “The 100 Show: The Nineteenth Annual of the American Center for Design.” Graphis 56, no. 328 (September 1, 2000): 12.

Coyne, Patrick. “The ACD Conference on Interactive Media.” Communication Arts 36, no. 8 (February 1, 1995): 135–140.

Daniels, Mary. Graphic Display. Chicago Tribune, February 9, 1992.

“Design Student Grant, Miwa Wang, Institute of Design.” Statements 6, no. 3 (March 1991): 31.

Dewey, Rob. The Society of Typographic Arts: A Seventy-five Year History. Edited by Jack Weiss. Chicago: The Society of Typographic Arts, 2002.

Ehrenberg, Jennifer. “A Cold Eye: Dues and Don’ts.” Print 53, no. 3 (May/June 1999): 16–17.

“Furthering the Faith: American Center for Design.” I.D. 1 (February 1993): 46.

Hanson, Cynthia. “Taking a Wipe at Art.” Chicago Tribune, December 6, 1992.

Heller, Steven. “Katherine McCoy, Educator, Designer, Writer.” Print 52, no. 4 (September 1998): 38.

“Honorary Member Bill Moggridge.” Design Statements 9, no. 2 (June 1, 1994): 19.

Kouri, Charles. “In a Changing World.” Statements 6, no. 2 (December 1, 1991): 18.

“Living Surfaces.” I.D. 48, no. 5 (August 1, 2001): 78.

Margolin, Victor. “Design History in the United States, 1977–2000.” The Politics of the Artificial: Essays on Design and Design Studies. Chicago and London: University of Chicago Press, 2002.

McMillan, Sam. “Report from ACD: Design for the Internet.” Communication Arts 38, no. 8 (February 1, 1997): 131–136.

Middleton, R. Hunter. “Twenty-five Years of STA History.” Print, March 1953.

Mirapaul, Matthew. “Designing the Invisible Computer.” New York Times, October 28, 1999.

Parker, Robert A. “Design: A Strategic Partnership with Business.” Communication Arts 35, no. 1 (April 1993): 28–32.

Pratt, Steven. “Designer Cookbook Draws Upon Menus with Style.” Chicago Tribune, January 5, 1995.

Society of Typographic Arts Records, Special Collections and University Archives, University of Illinois at Chicago.

Spreenberg, Peter. “Designing a Multimedia Publication: American Center for Design Interact Journal.” CHI '95 Conference Companion on Human Factors in Computing Systems (May 1995): 

89–90.

Stangenes, Sharon, “50 Years of Logo-Motion.” Chicago Tribune, May 12, 1991.

Steyer-Coyn, Stephanie. “The ACD Conference: Design for the Internet.” Communication Arts 37, no. 8 (January 1, 1996): 137.

The Chicago Design Archive. “American Center for Design.” https://chicagodesignarchive.org/client/american-center-design.

“The New Imagist: Expert without Qualities.” Statements: American Center for Design 11, no. 2 (1996): 8–12.

“The Two McCoys: Collage and Montage: A Renowned Husband and Wife Team Talk about Design and the Elements of Blending.” Chicago Tribune, April 9, 1995.

Tomcik, Andrew. “Graphic Design Triptypch.” Azure: Design Architecture & Art 9, no. 83 (September 1, 1992): 16.