D C   D E S I G N  W E E K  2 0 2 1 
 “H Y P E R L O C A L”
In 2021, I served as Executive Director of DC Design Week, AIGA DC’s annual celebration of DC’s creative community. In this role, I set the theme and core message for the year’s branding, oversaw programming, and worked to ensure we delivered on our mission of celebrating our creative community.
Role: Executive Direction, Creative Direction and Art Direction
Core Message
Creativity can be seen on every corner of the DMV (DC, Maryland, and Virginia), and behind it are real people with stories to tell. In 2021, DC Design Week, also known as “DCDW” is empowering the community and lifting up their voices.
Design Direction
Our branding sponsor Ghost Note took our goals, theme, and core message and ran with them, and designed a brand for the year that blew us away.
21’ tagline:: Hyperlocal. Grown locally. Inspire Globally.​​​​​​​
"…In this direction, we wanted to lean into the call-and-response nature of design and the grassroots history of the District; with a focus on the impact of the DMV’s unique local flavor, particularly Gogo music and culture. Design constitutes different points of reference. Local makers can expect our vision for the future to be pluralistic and that our art and design practices contain a multitude of perspectives and experiences.
Gogo is the most synonymous with homegrown artistic expression in the DMV. It embodies the DIY spirit of DCDW and its community…"
It takes a whole team to develop DC Design Week!!
Meet The Committee:
Deputy Executive Director: Ariana Rodriguez-Gitler
Program Directors: Danni Baker & Eliza Duquette
Communications Director: David Dunston
Deputy Communications Director: Cynthia Kim
Community-Curated Events Manager: Ben Abraham
Deputy Communications Director: Cynthia KimEvents 
Event Leads: Janessa Arrington, Cara Campbell, Elaine Heinzman, Nicole McKinney
Kickoff Event Lead: Kojo Boateng

Copywriter: Jelena Budjevac
Designer: Benneth Chukwu 
Social Media Lead: Jessica Josey
Accessibility Lead: Josh Kim
Pop-Up Lead's: Johanna Ostrich & Jena Persico
Design Lead: Kristin Rafael
Web Developer: Marcus Relacion
Web Lead: Silvia Script
Web Designer: Chelsea Wilson
The Wins
+ We raised the most money in DC Design Week's history 
+ Participation rating::
Event satisfaction: 8.9 out of 10 
Event met expectations: 91% 
Speaker satisfaction: 9.2  out of 10 
How likely to recommend: 9.3  out of 10
(77 responses)​​​​​​​
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