The PRINT Awards includes two important categories to recognize work created to address societal issues—Design for Social Impact and Citizen Design.
Design for Social Impact
Design for social impact is creative work shaped with purpose—addressing real-world challenges like equity, access, climate, public health, and community resilience. It goes beyond aesthetics to ask: Who does this serve? Who might it exclude? Why it matters is simple—design influences behavior, systems, and opportunity at scale. Today, social impact isn’t a niche discipline; it’s being integrated across branding, packaging, digital, environmental, and motion design as clients and audiences expect transparency, responsibility, and meaningful change. The most powerful design doesn’t just look good—it does good, too.
In this category, entries can be campaigns for nonprofit organizations or other associations that speak to the social good and have a call to action. Designs can include all elements of a campaign including advertising, reports, brochures, posters, signs, and art installations. Out jury for Design for Social Impact lead the discussion around social change.
Libby Cole // Creative Director at The Work Department
Over the past 15 years, Libby Cole’s work has spanned nonprofit, corporate, and community contexts, always grounded in design as a tool for public good. She co-curated “Footwork: The Choreography of Collaboration,” an exhibition of Detroit design at the Saint-Étienne Design Biennale in France.
Building Pathways to Economic Opportunity with Feeding America | The Work Department
Justin Ahrens // Chief Creative Officer of Rule29
Justin Ahrens is the founder and Chief Creative Officer of Rule29, an employee-owned brand agency he has led for more than 26 years. He also serves as Chief Creative Officer at O’Neil Printing Companies. Justin’s work has helped nonprofits and businesses turn purpose into action. He has authored Life Kerning, is writing Being Humankind, and hosts The Design Of and Running Ahrens podcasts exploring creativity, leadership, and the human side of work.
Good Tidings Foundation | Rule29
Sam Shelton // Principal & Creative Director, Kinetik
Sam Shelton is a designer, educator, and business strategist, and a founding partner of KINETIK, a Washington, DC–based design firm, where he advances design as a strategic force for positive change. A longtime AIGA leader and AIGA Fellow (2006), he has served on the National Board, led the DC chapter as president, worked at the AIGA National Office, and now teaches at George Washington University’s Corcoran School of Art and Design, where he leads Design Ignites Change.
NAIS People of Color Conference (PoCC) | KINETIK
Citizen Design Award
Every year, the PRINT Awards offers an opportunity for designers to enter work created to address a specific social impact focus. Design for Mental Health, this year’s Citizen Design Award, spotlights the role of communication design as an essential tool for providing critical information to the public, medical professionals and government leaders. It will honor design that fosters advocacy, awareness and empathy for mental health and well-being.
Mental health has moved from the margins of public discourse to its center. Across communities, we’ve seen growing concern that emotional well-being is vital to total health, yet social stigma and systemic barriers persist. The recent cuts to healthcare and entitlements funding have a devastating impact on those who are most underserved. Societal upheaval, digital overload, and collective uncertainty, have triggered increasing demand for empathetic individuals and institutions to act.
Submissions for Citizen Design can include editorial design, posters, packaging, campaigns, publications, social media that use the power of visual resources to confront stigma, promote self-care, or encourage more direct conversations around mental health. Jury members for Citizen Design are well equipped to consider the best work addressing Mental Health issues this year.
Diana Wilkins // Director of Strategy & Impact at the Center for Safety and Change
Diana Wilkins has worked in leadership, development, strategic planning, and other avenues of nonprofit succession, as well as in graphic design and marketing. She’s also the co-founder and deputy director of the Rockland County Pride Center, an LGBTQ+ organization with an anti-racist, social justice mission.
The 16th Annual Center for Safety & Change Art Poster Competition | Center for Safety and Change
Roshanak Keyghobadi // Assistant Professor at Farmingdale State College-SUNY
Roshanak Keyghobadi teaches graphic design, typography, design thinking, interaction design, and design history. With training in Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and social justice, she integrates inclusive and cross-cultural perspectives into her teaching and research. Her research investigates contemporary and global design histories, with a focus on Iranian women in graphic design and the decolonization of design narratives.
AWDA for RIGHTS Prize | Roshanak Keyghobadi
Roxanne Benefiel // Co-founder and Creative Strategist at Group Hugg
Through Group Hugg, Roxanne Benefiel leads brand and content strategy for purpose-driven organizations and nonprofits. She also co-runs Paper Rowte, a foundational brand strategy agency for women athletes and advocates, dedicated to advancing visibility and voice in sports culture.
Joyful Heart Foundation | Group Hugg
Have you ever used design to drive social change or empower communities? If so, your work deserves to be recognized. The PRINT Awards’ Design for Social Impact and Citizen Design categories celebrate designers who turn purpose into action, creating work that tackles real-world issues and uplifts others. Enter your project and share how your creativity is shaping a better future.
The post Where Creativity Meets Responsibility: The PRINT Awards Design for Social Impact and Citizen Design appeared first on PRINT Magazine.