About Sylvia Harris

Over her twenty-five year career Sylvia Harris championed “good design for the common good,” tirelessly promoting accessible communications for mass audiences. As founder and principal of Citizen Research & Design, she consulted to the nation’s largest hospitals, universities, and civic agencies on strategic design planning, public policy development, and innovation management.

Some of her career highlights include: creative director of the 2000 National Census for the U.S. Census Bureau; an appointment to the U.S. Postal Service Citizens’ Stamp Advisory Committee; advisor for Design Trust for Public Space, the African Burial Ground and AIGA’s Design for Democracy; educator at Yale University, The School of Visual Arts and The Cooper Union; and co-founder of the firm Two Twelve Associates.

Sylvia was a founder of the nonprofit, Public Policy Lab, which is dedicated to improving public services and empowering Americans through design and policy. She founded the Citizen Designer movement shortly before her untimely death in 2011.

About Design Ignites Change

We believe that creativity holds enormous power to spark positive social change. Design Ignites Change, a Worldstudio social initiative, supports creative professionals and students who use design thinking – the combination of unleashed creativity and executable actions – to improve the lives of individuals and communities.

About AIGA

AIGA is the professional association for design, a nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing design as a professional craft, strategic tool and vital cultural force. Founded in 1914, AIGA today serves more than 25,000 members through 69 chapters and 200 student groups throughout the United States. AIGA stimulates thinking about design, demonstrates the value of design and empowers the success of designers at each stage of their careers.