For over a decade, DC Design Week (DCDW) has been a leading platform for design dialogue, development, and creative exchange in Washington, DC. Hosted by AIGA DC, the weeklong series of citywide events welcomes attendees across disciplines and industries to champion design as a profession, a language, and a tool for connection and impact.
Building on 2025’s exploration of creative pathways, this year’s direction turns toward the processes behind creative work, centering inquiry, research, observation, iteration, and development.
This year, DC Design Week returns October 1 – 10 with the theme of Research & Development. Research & Development explores the references, archives, questions, methods, and experiments that shape the creative process. Drawing inspiration from practices that value study as much as output, the week creates space for learning, investigation, exchange, and the ongoing development of ideas.
Through talks, workshops, screenings, salons, and hands-on experiences, attendees will engage with research as a creative act: a way of gathering evidence, following intuition, refining perspective, and building meaning over time.
Together, we will explore the conditions under which creativity takes shape: the references that ground it and the questions that unpack it.
DCDW is powered by the creative community — and we couldn’t do it without dedicated volunteers. Each year, volunteers welcome guests, support speakers, manage events, and capture the energy of our citywide celebration.
As a volunteer, you’ll gain behind-the-scenes access to events, connect with designers and creatives across disciplines, and play an essential role in shaping the experience for over 2,000 attendees.
Tickets are priced to balance accessibility and sustainability. Proceeds support the AIGA DC Design Continuum Fund, which provides scholarships to emerging designers across the DMV.
DC Design Week is made possible by sponsors and partners who believe in the power of creativity to transform our communities. From local businesses to global brands, their support fuels programming, offsets ticket costs, and sustains scholarships for the next generation of designers.
