This achievement has not been matched by any other country in the past two decades.
Jacques Lange (think director and partner at Bluprint Design) presided over the Congress and General Assembly in his capacity as president of Icograda for the 2005 – 2007 term. Lange was the first African to be elected to the position of Icograda president at the 21st General Assembly in Copenhagen in 2005 and will serve on the executive board as past president for the 2007 – 2009-term. During his tenure, the Icograda membership grew to include 42 new member organisations from 22 countries, including Ghana and Kenya. Today, Icograda has 197 member associations (professional bodies, design promotion agencies, educational institutions and publishers) in 59 countries.
Mohammed Jogie (think director and partner at Morning Star) and Halim Choueiry (think member residing in Doha, Qatar) were elected as VPs to the executive board by the voting members of the Icograda General Assembly.
The other elected Icograda executive board members for the 2007 – 2009 term are Don Ryun Chang (president, South Korea), Russell Kennedy (president elect, Australia), Lise Vejse Klint (secretary general, Denmark), David Berman (treasurer, canada), Iva Babaja (VP, Croatia), Omar Vilpinari (VP, Italy) and Min Wang (VP, China).
Highlights
The 22nd Icograda General Assembly highlights included the ratification of the organisation's radically revised Articles of Incorporation and Bylaws, membership categories and fee structure; new policy documents and position papers regarding speculative work (pitching), guidelines on best practices for running competition and award programmes, and governance of professional associations.
In addition, Icograda announced the launch of the Indigenous Design Network (INDIGO); the International Federation of Interior Architects/Designers joining to IDA; presented the status of the IDA World Design Report pilot project that aims to map the professional and economic landscape of the profession in 10 countries according to common indicators, and announced the 2010 IDA World Design Capital designation which went to the City of Seoul.
South Africa is a key participant in the IDA World Design Report and the project partners include the SABS Design Institute (project lead and sponsor), think, Design Education Forum of Southern Africa, South African Industrial Design Council, and the Institute for Interior Design Professions.
The Icograda World Design Congress and General Assembly took place in La Habana, Cuba, 20 – 26 October 2007.
• Icograda is the world body for professional communication design which was founded in 1963 as an international network of member associations. It is concerned with graphic design, visual communication, design management, design promotion, design education and design journalism. Icograda promotes communication designer's vital role in society and commerce and unifies the voices of communication design worldwide. It maintains international affiliations with United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO), World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO), International Federation of Reproduction Rights Organisation (IFFRO), International Standards Organisation (ISO), Design for the World, and several other INGO and intergovernmental organisations. Icograda is also a founding partner of the ‘one voice' International Design Alliance (IDA) of which Lange served as co-chair since 2005. Go to www.icograda.org for more information.
