DC Design Week 2023 is October 27 – Nov 3!  🎉

If you don’t already know us, DC Design Week (DCDW) is an annual celebration of DC’s creative community: An ever-growing body of professionals, makers, and voices working across design disciplines.

This year’s theme is: Level Up.

We heard from our community members, their desire for professional development opportunities, so they can stand out in today’s economy. This week of programs and communications will be dedicated to strengthening our design professionals.

COVID-19 is a rapidly changing, ongoing pandemic. The wide distribution of vaccines in DC and across the nation makes us hopeful that we can bring back more in-person event experiences to DCDW 2023.

We plan to host a few in-person indoor events and a few virtual/hybrid events for DC Design Week 2023, from October 27 – November 3.

That said, DC Design Week will always follow the latest CDC guidance on hosting in-person gatherings. As a result, we might pivot events to virtual experiences if the situation changes. Prospective event partners must understand this when proposing in-person events. We will work with selected event partners to ensure that each in-person event follows the latest CDC guidelines and has appropriate contingency plans.

DCDW charges for most of its events via Eventbrite to pay for overhead costs not covered by sponsorships. Once the majority of events are locked in, we will set prices with equity, accessibility, and inclusion in mind. We are a 100% volunteer-run committee and aim to break even with all of our events. Any profit is automatically routed to AIGA DC’s Design Continuum Fund (DCF). This fund provides scholarships to under-represented students in the DC, MD, & VA area who aspire to have future careers in design.

If you’re interested in sponsoring DCDW, which will help offset ticket fees, make events more accessible, and offer other benefits to all attendees, email designweek@dc.aiga.org. All sponsors receive benefits and shoutouts in exchange for your support!

In an effort to seek equity, speakers for an event can request to keep a portion of the event’s profits. Our volunteer team calculates respective event profits after DCDW takes place. Keep in mind that this is a nominal amount and not a true reflection of the speaker’s value or worth. We can give estimates upon request.

Volunteer during the week

You can help out the day of an event during DC Design Week with Zoom support, cleaning up or tearing down in-person events, and more.

Let us know about your interest in volunteering through this form

Sponsorship

Whether you’re able to offer in-kind services or financial support, we welcome sponsorship partners who can help make DCDW even better. 

If you’re interested in sponsoring DCDW, please email designweek@dc.aiga.org.