Target, MTV Networks to be honored at third annual AIGA Design Legends Gala

NEW YORK, October 6, 2006: AIGA is honored to announce Target and MTV Networks, a Viacom Company, as the recipients of its 2006 Corporate Leadership Awards. The awards will be presented at the third annual Design Legends Gala to be held on October 25, 2006 in New York City. Fashion designer Isaac Mizrahi, who came to market with a best-selling women's line for Target in 2003, will present the awards at the ceremony.

The black-tie event will also celebrate the 2006 Medalists, Michael Bierut, Rick Valicenti and Lorraine Wild; the 2006 Fellows; and the recipients of the 2006 Winterhouse AIGA Design Writing and Criticism Awards. Further celebrating the relationship between design and business, the Gala also kicks off "Gain: AIGA Business and Design Conference" October 26–28, 2006.

AIGA's Corporate Leadership Award was established in 1980 to recognize perceptive and forward-thinking organizations that have been instrumental in the advancement of design by applying the highest standards, as a matter of policy. The recipients of this award demonstrate respect for the millions whose lives they touch, a rare commitment to consistency and quality, and a model for the successful interaction between aesthetics and pragmatics.

Target is recognized for changing cultural understanding and appreciation of design, communicating the importance of design to consumers, and its steadfast commitment to championing and advocating design.

MTV Networks is recognized for creating influential television networks—MTV, VH1, TV Land, Comedy Central, Nickelodeon—which use design to communicate added value, assuming a role in the industry as design leaders, and producing brands known to the world over as cultural icons.

"AIGA is thrilled to honor these exceptional corporations. Both Target and MTV Networks have leveraged the power of design to become the leaders in their respective industries and have proven that exceptional design can and does impact business performance," says Debbie Millman, AIGA national board member and chair of the awards.

Also honored at the Design Legends Gala will be the 2006 recipients of the AIGA Medal, Michael Bierut, Pentagram, New York City, Rick Valicenti, 3st, Chicago, and Lorraine Wild, Green Dragon Office, Los Angeles. The highest honor in the field of graphic design, the AIGA Medal has been awarded to more than 130 designers for their exceptional achievements in graphic design and visual communication.

The Gala will also mark the presentation of the first Winterhouse Awards for Design Writing and Criticism, a joint venture between the Winterhouse Institute and AIGA. These awards seek to increase the appreciation of design throughout the design community and for the greater public, by recognizing excellent writing about design, and by discovering new voices in design criticism and commentary. The Winterhouse Institute and AIGA recently named Thomas de Monchaux and Katherine Feo the 2006 recipients.

This is the second year that chapter Fellows will be included in the evening's celebrations. Their commitment and service to the community have been recognized on a local level, and the Gala recognizes them nationally. The fellows are Pat and Greg Samata (Chicago); Sam Shelton (DC); Cheryl Beckett and Chris Hill (Houston); Mary Fisher (Jacksonville); Moria Cullen (Kansas City); Sean Adams, Noreen Morioka and Doyald Young (Los Angeles); John Bielenberg (Maine); Annette Piskel (Miami); Tom Varisco, (New Orleans); Michael Osborne (San Francisco).

About 400 leaders of design, creative, business and education organizations from around the world are expected to attend this glamorous black-tie event, which benefits the ongoing celebration of design excellence. Funds raised at this year's Gala will benefit the Worldstudio AIGA Scholarship program, AIGA's Diversity Archive and AIGA's endowment to secure the future of the organization. Tickets are available online.

Many Gala guests will remain in New York to attend AIGA's business and design conference, "Gain," where the world's leading business and design experts share their innovative approaches to generating greater return on investment, fostering emotional connections and providing positive brand experiences for customers. Tom Kelley, general manager, IDEO, and author, The Ten Faces of Innovation, will moderate "Gain." October 26–28, 2006.

A very limited number of press passes will be available to each event. For more information, contact Heather Strelecki at 212 710 3145.

Target Media Relations can be reached at 612 696 3400.