Philadelphia Designer Elysa Soffer Revives Prestigious Awards Program

Philadelphia, PA – June 11, 2008 – Bresslergroup graphic designer, Elysa Soffer, rekindles the AIGA fellow award program in Philadelphia that has laid dormant since Joel Katz was selected in 2002. On June 26th AIGA Philadelphia will honor nominee Frank Baseman, principal of Baseman Design Associates and Associate Professor of Graphic Design Communication at Philadelphia University, for his significant contributions to design. AIGA is The Professional Association for Design.

The Fellow program is a means of recognizing mature designers who have made a significant contribution to raising the standards of excellence in practice and conduct within their local or regional design community as well as in their local AIGA chapter. The board carefully considered over two dozen distinguished nominees that Ms. Soffer gathered based on strict criteria set forth by the national AIGA office. The areas of education, writing, leadership and reputation, as well as the practice of design are given equal consideration in measuring significant contribution. Mr. Baseman’s relationship with AIGA Philadelphia began with extensive service at the local level and led to his election to the National Board of Directors for AIGA (2003-2006). He is the founding chair of the steering committee for the AIGA Design Education Community of Interest (2001-2006) and was co-chair of Revolution: Philadelphia (2005), a national AIGA Design Education Conference. Additionally, he is a co-curator of the traveling exhibition "The Graphic Imperative: International Posters for Peace, Social Justice and the Environment, 1965-2005."

Along with the position of Fellow Award Chair, Elysa Soffer is the lead graphic designer at Bresslergroup, an award winning product definition, design and development firm located in Philadelphia. Her accomplishments include dozens of product graphics solutions, as well as user interface programs. Some of her package design work can be found on the shelves of large retailers such as Target and Home Depot. Most recently Elysa contributed to the visual communication of Momenta, a concept project, also a finalist in the Microsoft Next Gen PC Design Competition ‘08. As a co-founder of Wonka Vision Magazine, one of the top international indie music magazines, Elysa contributed to it’s success for almost 10 years. She earned her BFA in graphic design and minor in photography from the University of the Arts.

Join AIGA in honoring Mr. Baseman and his many significant contributions to design on Thursday evening June 26th at 7pm. AIGA Philadelphia will present Mr. Baseman with the Fellow Award at a formal dinner event, including hors d'oeuvres, dinner, dessert, and open bar at Cescaphe Ballroom in Northern Liberties, Philadelphia. Please check out the AIGA event listing.

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