MINNEAPOLIS, MN — February 15, 2011 — The Minnesota chapter of AIGA, the professional association for design, proudly announces that two of its members, Doug Powell of Schwartz Powell and Andrew Blauvelt of the Walker Art Center, were named on the 2011 slate of nominees for the AIGA national board of directors. Doug Powell, a past president of AIGA Minnesota, is nominated for the position of president of the national board.

The slate of six nominees, selected for consideration by the AIGA nominating committee based on nominations from AIGA members, will begin their term on July 1, 2011, pending ratification.

Voting on the slate is open to all professional members of AIGA through March 18, 2011 on the AIGA website.

“AIGA Minnesota has always maintained a leading voice in the international design conversation,” said Seth Johnson, president of AIGA Minnesota. “Having Doug and Andrew on the national board shines the spotlight even brighter on Minnesota as a center for excellence in design and design thinking. As a chapter, we’re intensely proud of their continuing commitment to the organization.”

AIGA Minnesota recently became the fourth-largest AIGA chapter in the nation, serving nearly 1,400 members throughout the state of Minnesota and parts of western Wisconsin.

Nominated to lead AIGA as president, Doug Powell is a designer, entrepreneur and business strategist. Together with his wife, Lisa Powell, he founded the Minneapolis-based Schwartz Powell Design in 1989. In 2004, following their daughter Maya’s diagnosis with Type 1 diabetes, the couple launched Type1Tools to bring well-designed, kid-friendly tools to the daily experience of managing this complex disease. Type 1 Tools was a recipient of an INDEX Design to Improve Life award in 2006. The success of Type1Tools led to the expansion of the business into HealthSimple, with a vision to help the millions of people living with chronic health problems. HealthSimple was acquired by McNeil Nutritionals, a division of Johnson & Johnson, in 2007. Powell served as consulting creative director for HealthSimple through 2009, working closely with the Johnson & Johnson Global Strategic Design Office.

Powell is a past member and treasurer of the AIGA national board of directors and currently serves on the board of the College of Visual Arts in St. Paul. On his blog, Merge, Powell discusses design and entrepreneurship. He has also been president of the Minnesota chapter of AIGA and chair of the AIGA president’s council.

Andrew Blauvelt is chief of communications and audience engagement and curator of architecture and design at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis, where he oversees the design, new media, marketing/public relations, and education departments. While at the Walker he has organized many exhibitions, public programs, and community projects about the role and value of architecture and design in our lives—many in partnership with local AIGA and AIA chapters and community groups. Blauvelt has been a professor at leading design programs in the United States and abroad such as Cranbrook Academy of Art, his alma mater, the Jan van Eyck Academie in the Netherlands, and at NC State University in Raleigh. He is a frequent lecturer at design conferences and schools around the world. Blauvelt’s work has received numerous design awards, including the National Design Award for Institutional and Corporate Achievement, and has been extensively published and exhibited in North America, Europe, and Asia.

Blauvelt has written about design and culture for several publications including Eye, Emigre, Perspecta and Visible Language, and is a contributing writer for Design Observer. Blauvelt has been a member of AIGA since 1998 and was elected to the Alliance Graphique Internationale in 2007.

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Brent Larson
Brent Larson
President
Brent is an award winning Motion, 3D, and Graphic designer with 20 years of experience working in the architectural, manufacturing, legal, corporate, and film industries as a solopreneur, agency, and in-house designer. He has experience in illustration, graphic design, product design, 3D modeling & animation, motion graphics, video production, live & virtual event production, presentation design, art direction, and project management. He currently works as a corporate in-house Principal Motion and Graphic Designer in the MedTech industry.

Before becoming AIGA Minnesota President, Brent served as Vice President from 2022-2023 and Chair of the In-House Designers Committee from 2019 - 2023.

Brent volunteers as a mentor for emerging designers and is a member of the AIGA Minnesota Mind to Mind Mentorship Program Committee.

His interests include history, film, design, animation, illustration, 3D printing, model making, woodworking, golf, bowling, fishing, and restoring things.