As the year draws to a close, we’re taking time out to recap our favorite things from 2025. While there were so many great things we could list, we decided to limit our list to 10 things ranging from events, to initiatives, to people, places, and things. 2025 was special for so many reasons, and we’re so proud of our community for showing up and showing out throughout the year.

10 – Our 2025 Chapter Sponsors

Our chapter sponsors helped us put on events and initiatives for the DC design community that made a huge impact. We’d like to give major thanks to Artechouse, Coforma, and Public Servants for being our 2025 chapter sponsors.

9 – Volunteers

We’re grateful for the people who give their time and energy in service to the local design community. From our boardies, to our committees, to our event volunteers, we could not exist without you and your efforts. Our volunteers make everything we do possible and we thank each and everyone of you sincerely.

8 – The 2025-2026 Design Continuum Fund Scholarship Recipients

We awarded Design Continuum Fund scholarships to six deserving students. Our 2025-2026 DCF recipients are:

CHLOE McNEILL, Illustration, Undergraduate student at Howard University

ALAINA LURRY, Photography, Undergraduate student at MICA

BAO DUONG, Illustration, Graduate student at Johns Hopkins University 

NASTYA LAVRY, Communication Design, Undergraduate student at MICA

ARISHA RAHMAN, Illustration, Undergraduate student at George Washington University

MABEL TSADO, Communication Design, Dual Degree Graduate student at MICA & Johns Hopkins University

Additionally, we have to give a big shout out to Teal Media for their work rebranding the Design Continuum Fund. If you’re not aware, the Design Continuum Fund supports local design-minded students by offering them financial assistance to pursue their design education. 

7 – SHINE Mentorship

One of our primary Initiatives, the SHINE mentorship program is back just in time for 2026. For those who don’t know, SHINE is a four-month mentoring program. The program matches mentors and mentees around DMV design communities looking to connect, challenge each other to grow, focus on portfolio development, or collaborate on a project of their choice.

Apply: SHINE Applications are now open. The deadline to apply is Jan. 27, 2026

Volunteers: Those looking to volunteer can sign up here. The deadline to sign up as a volunteer is Jan. 5, 2026.

6 – Salons

Salons are special events because we get to engage our community in smaller, more intimate settings. It’s a great opportunity to share thoughts, connect one-on-one, and be in a space with others who share similar interests. 

This year, our salons consisted of a mural tour in NoMA and a sneak peak into the holiday edition of Room Service, the pop up in union market where local creatives got to design and reimagine rooms in the old Motel 6.

We look forward to more great salons in 2026.

5 – Virtual Events

It seems like only yesterday that we were in the midst of a once-in-lifetime pandemic (Hello 2020 😒) in which things like social distancing and virtual events became the norm. While we’re thankful to have gotten back to in-person events, we have to admit, there’s nothing we like more than a well-run virtual event. With that said, we must highlight the “Inside the Overnight Campaign” event. It was a fantastic virtual event run by our programming team featuring the design teams from the Harris for President campaign. Check out a recap of the event here.

4 – CreateAthon 2025 (#CAT25)

There are so many nonprofits providing great services to their communities, but sometimes the helpers need some help. CreateAthon 2025 was a truly amazing experience where five teams of designers were paired with five nonprofits to produce branding and marketing materials in a 24-hour design sprint. 

We could not have done it without sponsors like, Steampunk – who lent their space for the event – as well as Fufu + Grits, Topo Chico, Smart Water, Make A Scene Media, Jamie Kimball, and Compass Coffee. 

Check out the recap video for #CAT25 produced by Make A Scene Media. Needless to say, great design was created although not much sleep was had.

3 – The Return of DotGov

DotGov returned in 2025 after a multi-year hiatus, and it could not have been timelier. DotGov 2025 gave civic designers and those working with the government a chance to connect, learn from one another, and elevate conversations around positive change at a time when many government workers were furloughed as we experienced the longest government shutdown in U.S. history.

We’d like to thank our attendees as well as our sponsors for the event: Coforma, Public Servants, Civic Design Collaborative, Flipside Innovation, Humans of Public Service, IDEO.org, WellFed, Hanad Ali Photography, Print Mag, and Tre’Von Henderson Photography. 

Check out the recap video for DotGov 2025

2 – An Unparalleled DC Design Week

DC Design Week 2025’s theme was Unparalleled Pathways, and the theme was truly fitting. This year’s DC Design Week (DCDW) was one for the record books. The week began with a coffee kickoff in Union Market and continued with events that ranged from architecture and design, to culinary delights, a Homegrown design panel with world-class creatives, a creative portfolio review, a game and animated film debut, and a spiritually stirring nature hike and museum tour.

We’re so grateful for all of our attendees, volunteers, and sponsors who helped make DCDW 2025 one of our most impactful initiatives of the year.

1 – Our DC Design Community

In 2025, our community showed up and showed out. To our community, you’ve shown up for our events and you’ve given your time, effort, and resources. You are members, sponsors, our board members, committee members, volunteers, and our greatest advocates. Let’s continue to build a strong community and support one another as we head into a new year filled with many new opportunities to learn and grow.