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Design is Human Awards Spotlights Transformative Talent

October 29, 2024  by Karen Parrish in Business Strategy, Designer Weekly, Industry   

The Design is Human Awards stand out by celebrating a diverse range of design talent across architecture, digital innovation, and film, making it one of the few awards to truly honor creativity in multiple forms. What sets these awards apart is their commitment to recognizing the depth of the creative process across disciplines—whether it’s designing a physical space, crafting a digital interface, or creating a visual story through film. The awards highlight how thoughtfulness and innovation in design have the power to shape the world around us.

While many awards focus on specific categories of design, the Design is Human Awards provide a broad view of the impact that design has on both local and global communities. The awards’ connection to the Atlanta Design Festival also gives them a unique cultural relevance, showcasing how Atlanta is a critical player in the global design conversation.

Atlanta’s design sector contributed $39.5 billion to the city’s GDP in 2021, representing 8.3% of the total, and employing 111,800 people—an impact that surpasses even major cities like New York. This growth, with design-related productivity doubling that of the average worker, underscores the city’s significance as a design leader.

Beyond recognizing design excellence, the awards emphasize the social impact of design. Honorees such as MASS Design Group and The Rural Studio reflect the awards’ focus on projects that improve communities, tackle social challenges, and use design as a tool for meaningful change. This commitment to acknowledging the role of design in addressing social issues is what makes the Design is Human Awards uniquely powerful and relevant today.

Award Ceremony at Fourth Ward Atlanta
The Design is Human Awards ceremony is a highlight of the Atlanta Design Festival, bringing together industry leaders and creative minds to celebrate the transformative power of design.

The evening offers a unique opportunity to recognize honorees’ contributions to architecture, digital design, and film.

Attendees experience firsthand how design shapes both global and local communities, with the awards ceremony serving as a key moment to network with pioneers across disciplines.

About the Award’s Design
Each Design is Human Award is a work of art, designed by Matteo Caimi and fabricated by Alberto Menichini Marmi and Lavorazioni. The award design draws inspiration from brutalist architecture, paying homage to iconic structures such as the Barbican, with its emphasis on raw materials and bold, geometric forms.

The use of concrete and stone in the award’s construction is a deliberate nod to the brutalist movement’s ethos of honesty in materials and functional design. By choosing these materials, the award symbolizes strength and resilience and also reflects the essence of the honorees’ work—groundbreaking, impactful, and enduring.