AIGA Arizona

🚨MISSION UPDATE 🚨 Today is your LAST DAY to take advantage of advance pricing. Advance pricing ends tonight at midnight (September 18).

We’re bringing Arizona’s creative community together for two days of big ideas, practical conversations, new perspectives, and connections that stick with you long after the conference ends.

PXHDW: Orbit
October 23-24 | Phoenix Convention Center
Online Portal: PHXDW.com

Advance Pricing:
$249 - AIGA Members (will be $349)
$299 - Affiliate Orgs & Nonprofit (will be $399)
$349 - Non-AIGA Members (will be $449)
$129 - Student & Faculty AIGA Members (will be $179)
$199 - Student & Faculty Non-Members (will be $249)

‼️ Groups of 5+ from the same organization can also receive a 10% rebate during the advance pricing period.

Get your crew together. Get your plans in motion. Get in Orbit.
Ready to join us? Register here > https://dsh.re/d720d

‼️Next Week! RSVP Now! ‼️ What happens when you leave a career in design behind? Life After Design offers a candid look at what it means to walk away from a 35-year career in design and advertising to pivot and reinvent yourself as an artist.

Joe Ray shares the emotional (and financial) challenges, hard choices, unexpected freedom, and new possibilities that came with making that leap, and how the skills, experience, and creative instincts developed over a lifetime in design became tools for building something completely new.

It's a story about letting go, taking risks, following your passion, and finding your voice. All while discovering that the best part of your career is the life that comes after it.

🚀 Attendees will also receive a one-time discount code for Phoenix Design Week: Orbit boarding passes!

Don't miss your opportunity to hear Joe's amazing story!

🗓️ Thurs., Sept. 24
⏰ 6:00-8:00 pm
📍 Dialog, Phoenix, Arizona
💌 RSVP on Eventbrite >

Life After Design with Joe Ray Hear Joe Ray’s story of leaving a 35-year design career to reinvent himself as an artist—and discover what life after design can look like.

What happens when you leave a career in design behind? Life After Design offers a candid look at what it means to walk away from a 35-year career in design and advertising to pivot and reinvent yourself as an artist.

Joe Ray shares the emotional (and financial) challenges, hard choices, unexpected freedom, and new possibilities that came with making that leap, and how the skills, experience, and creative instincts developed over a lifetime in design became tools for building something completely new.

It’s a story about letting go, taking risks, following your passion, and finding your voice. All while discovering that the best part of your career is the life that comes after it.

🚀 Attendees will also receive a one-time discount code for Phoenix Design Week: Orbit boarding passes!

Don’t miss your opportunity to hear Joe’s amazing story!

🗓️ Thurs., Sept. 24
⏰ 6:00-8:00 pm
📍 Dialog, Phoenix, Arizona
💌 RSVP on Eventbrite; space is limited. (link in profile)

MISSION UPDATE: The early bird window is closing. Tomorrow, July 19, is your last day to secure your early bird boarding pass for PHXDW 2026: Orbit at the lowest available rate.

Only 100 boarding passes are available at this price point, and once they are gone, they are gone.

PHXDW 2026: Orbit

Conference > Oct. 23-24, 2026

Complete your registration and prepare for launch. Go to our mission portal at > PHXDW.com

Phoenix Design Week, organized by AIGA Arizona, is a weeklong celebration of design that unites our state’s design community and provides a forum for sharing best practices, showcasing exceptional work, and finding inspiration.

The PHXDW Conference is the main event of Phoenix Design Week—a two-day industry conference for graphic designers, UI/UX designers, content managers, illustrators, writers, marketing professionals, and others who work with them. For 2026, we’re celebrating the 18th annual PHXDW at the Phoenix Convention Center with two full days of creative jump-starts, workshops, and friendship. With a theme, we invite designers, thinkers, and collaborators to enter one another’s orbit and celebrate the relationships, conversations, intersections, and creative forces that surround the work and give it meaning. Each of us follows our own path, yet together we create a larger field of connection, energy, and possibility. Together, we create gravity by design.

HE'S BACK. 🎤 > We're thrilled to welcome Paul Mendoza back as the Conference Host for PHXDW 2026: Orbit.

An AIGA veteran, Paul has served as a board member emeritus for AIGA LA, Chair of the Chapter Advisory Council, and Producer for the 2023 AIGA Design Conference. Beyond the main stage, he's an experience designer, producer, educator, and strategist who helps creative communities find their rhythm, build momentum, and come together.

His work includes Amazon's CONFLUX design conference, TEDxUCLA, ArtCenter MGx, and UCLA's True Bruin Welcome. He also holds an MBA in Design Strategy from California College of the Arts, a BA in Communication Studies from UCLA, and — most importantly — a karaoke mic since birth.

We can't imagine a better person to guide us through two days of ideas, intersections, and collective energy.

Welcome back to our orbit, Paul. 🚀

IMPORTANT NOTE: Early-bird pricing is still available until July 19!

Conference > October 23-24, 2026
Portal > PHXDW.com

🚀 PHXDW 2026: Orbit takes off from the Phoenix Convention Center on October 23–24 for a mission of bold ideas, hands-on learning, and creative connection.

This year’s main stage already features the team behind the reimagined NASA.gov, copyright guidance for creatives navigating AI, and nationally recognized voices, including Tad Carpenter, Don Clark, and Julian Curi — with more announcements to come.

Early Bird registration is now open, but only 100 spots are available through July 19 — or until they’re gone. They’re going fast! Register early to save and receive a free conference T-shirt.

Your boarding pass includes two days of keynotes and breakout sessions, a Friday reception, admission to the PHXDW Closing Party, and more! One creative community creating gravity by design!

This is your sign to register now > go to PHXDW.com

We’re excited to help celebrate one of our upcoming Phoenix Design Week keynote speakers, Don Clark of .

This Wednesday, June 24, stop by the Lakeshore Learning South Phoenix store from 10 AM - 12 PM to meet Don in person. His new classroom decor collection will be available for purchase, and he’ll be leading a fun shape activity and craft for kids.

Teachers can also enter for a chance to win one of ten classroom decor bundles.

A thoughtful, creative morning for educators, families, and young makers - and a small preview of the kind of energy Don will be bringing to + this October.

Say hello to Orbit, this year’s theme for Phoenix Design Week, presented by AIGA Arizona.

Conference: October 23-24, 2026
Design Week: October 26-30, 2026

Early Bird Boarding Passes are now available through July 19 (up to 40% off regular conference prices). Only 100 passes are available, so act fast!

This year, we invite designers, thinkers, and collaborators to enter one another's orbit and celebrate the relationships, conversations, intersections, and creative forces that surround the work and give it meaning. Each of us follows our own path, yet together we create a larger field of connection, energy, and possibility. Together, we create gravity by design.

A sneak peek at some of this year's speakers:

Ben Shown & Megan Greco - the BlinkUX team behind the reimagined NASA.gov

Chuong Bui - an entertainment attorney and partner at Counsel for Creators

Tad Carpenter - designer, illustrator at Carpenter Collective

Don Clark - principal and thing maker at Invisible Creature

Julian Curi - filmmaker, writer, and director at Righteous Robot

We have so much more planned! Stay tuned across all our channels for more news as transmissions come in!

Get your boarding passes here > PHXDW.com

Join us for our annual Town Hall at , a space for the Phoenix design community to come together, catch up, and talk about what’s next

This event is your opportunity to meet the AIGA Arizona Board, hear about our plans for the year ahead, and get an exclusive first look at this year’s Phoenix Design Week. Attendees will also get early-bird PHXDW tickets and pricing!

Come ready to share ideas, ask questions, and co-create the future of our chapter in a space built for honest dialogue and creative connection.

Details:

🗓️ Wed, June 10th
⏰ 6-8 PM
📍 dialog 1001 North Central Avenue, Phoenix, AZ 85004
💌 RSVP on Eventbrite, space is limited.

🔗 https://dsh.re/de3d01

If you missed My Life in the Making with at , you really missed something special. We had an honest conversation about a 25+ year career in the visual communication industry - the ups, the downs, the highs, and the lows.

And we quote:

“My worth is not defined by what I can provide.” - Jonny Arvisu