About SPD
What is the SPD?
The Society of Publication Designers is dedicated to promoting and encouraging excellence in editorial design. Our members are art directors, designers, photo editors, editors and graphics professionals. Since drafting its charter in 1965, the SPD remains the only organization specifically addressing the visual concerns of print and online editorial professionals.The efforts of the Society and its members also serve to educate and enlighten the public about the importance of magazines and online publications. Editorial design plays a crucial role in shaping and documenting this information and in turn, our common history.
The activities of the SPD promote our members' role as journalists and partners in the editorial process, as well as fostering new generations of publication designers through educational outreach and scholarship opportunities.
Membership Benefits
Membership allows you to join a community of your peers, obtain crucial information on the inner workings of your profession, and meet other talented and influential visual professionals.
There are two membership levels for professionals. These categories are:
Full Member $195/Year
- Full community participation in SPD.org (archive access, commenting, forum posting and member networking)
- A personal profile page on SPD.org including portfolio networking capabilities
- Bookmarking and topic aggregation on SPD.org
- Complimentary copies of the Publication Design Annual and The SPOTS Book
- Access to health, disability and life insurance
- Reduced entry fees for the publication design competition
- Significantly reduced admission to the SPD Gala
- Advance notice of and reduced admission to SPD@FIT and SpeakEasy speaker programs
- Automatic subscription to INAnet, the essential job resource e-mail blast with listings specifically for editorial art directors, designers and photo editors
Download the Full Member membership form here:
SPD Full Membership Invoice
Online Member $125/Year
- Full community participation in SPD.org (archive access, commenting, forum posting and member networking)
- A personal profile page on SPD.org including portfolio and networking capabilities
- Bookmarking and topic aggregation on SPD.org
- Automatic subscription to INAnet, the essential job resource e-mail blast with listings specifically for editorial art directors, designers and photo editors
Download the Online Member membership form here:
SPD Online Membership Invoice
There are two membership levels for students. These categories are:
Online Student $75
- Full community participation in SPD.org (archive access, commenting, forum posting and member networking)
- A personal profile page on SPD.org including portfolio networking capabilities
- Bookmarking and topic aggregation on SPD.org
- Complimentary admission to all SPD student events and portfolio reviews
- Complimentary copies of the Publication Design Annual and The SPOTS Book
- Three free entries into the annual SPD Student Competition
Download the SPD STUDENT Online Member membership form here:
SPD STUDENT Online Membership Invoice
Student $25
- Full community participation in SPD.org (archive access, commenting, forum posting and member networking)
- Complimentary admission to all SPD student events and portfolio reviews
- Complimentary copies of the Publication Design Annual and The SPOTS Book
- Three free entries into the annual SPD Student Competition
Download the SPD STUDENT Member membership form here:
SPD STUDENT Membership Invoice
Health, Disability and Life Insurance
In our economic slowdown, designers are finding themselves downsized without warning, rehired as a freelancer without benefits at the same magazines and unable to pay the high cost of former insurance coverage through COBRA. Because our members need this basic protection, we partnered with WORKING TODAY, a nonprofit organization representing the needs and concerns of independent workers through advocacy, information and service.
Independent workers, freelancers, consultants, independent contractors, part-timers, contingent employees and the self-employed-currently make up about 30% of the nation's workforce, as well as a growing number of our SPD members.
Partner benefits through WORKING TODAY'S FREELANCERS UNION include access to your choice of three group-rate health insurance plans through HIP of New York, as well as access to life and disability insurance, dental insurance and a range of other discounted services. Best of all, the application fee to join is waived for SPD members.
These plans present a viable option for those who do not have health insurance through an employer, or who seek an alternative to expensive COBRA plans. To enroll, you must fulfill the following eligibility requirements:
Freelancers Union Eligibility Requirements
(Premium Membership) You qualify for Working Today's Freelancers Union if you are an independent worker and ONE of the following:
- A skilled computer user who has worked 120 hours or billed $9,000 over 3 consecutive months within the last 6 month period.
OR - Have worked at least 20 hours per week, for the past 8 weeks or earned $10,000 over the last six months, in one of the following industries:
- Nonprofit
- Financial Services
- Technology
- Media & Advertising
- Arts & Entertainment
- Traditional and Alternative Health Care Providers
- Child Care Giver
For more information: Visit www.FreelancersUnion.org; Email
membership@workingtoday.org or Call 718-222-1099 x103
FREELANCERS UNION IS PART OF WORKING TODAY, A NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATION.
Society Activities
Annual Design Competition At the end of each year, the Society invites leading design professionals to judge the work of their peers. During three days of judging, top art directors, designers, photo editors, and editors view and discuss over 6,000 entries in over 100 separate categories. This rigorous process produces a show composed of less than ten percent of the entries, representing a unique yearly overview of the quality and direction of editorial design.
Awards Gala A highlight of the Society's year is the annual black-tie awards gala. The work of the competition's winners is shown and the Magazine of the Year, Gold and Silver medals are awarded. Guests attend an evening dinner and dance, meeting old friends and making new acquaintances within this select group of honorees.
Publication Design Annual A full-color, beautifully printed hardcover book reproduces the winning pieces in the show, and is an invaluable resource for anyone working in editorial design. The Annual is perhaps the most widely used creative reference tool in the industry, displaying the outstanding work of editorial photographers and illustrators along with art directors and designers.
Herb Lubalin Award To acknowledge continuing excellence in publication design, the SPD presents an award named for the late, great typographic innovator and designer Herb Lubalin. Recipients of this prestigious award have included:
- Art Paul, 2006
- George Lois, 2004
- Ruth Ansel, 1993
- Leo Lionni, 1992
- Rochelle Udell, 1991
- Milton Glaser, 1990
- Henry Wolf, 1988
- Frank Zachary, 1987
- Will Hopkins, 1986
- Bradbury Thompson, 1985
- Cipe Pineles, 1984
- Lou Silverstein/Jack Golden, 1983
Spots This juried competition celebrates those small but powerful gems called spot illustrations. The winners are collected in a limited-edition volume, The SPOTS Book, sent exclusively to SPD members and competition winners. Each illustration is shown next to the original editorial page on which it appeared, showing the context of the often-overlooked, often difficult solutions to editorial challenges.
Speaker Series - SPD@FIT Throughout the year, in conjunction with the Communication Design Department at FIT, the Society highlights different aspects of the design profession for our members and interested guests; recent seasons have covered everything from typography to illustration and photography, and even sneak peeks behind the scenes at magazine startups and redesigns, and a panel discussions. The year is broken into two seasons, Fall (September through December) and Spring (February through April), and the calendar is posted on our website.
SpeakEasy An intimate version of Speaker Series with fewer seats and more cocktails -- a night of casual conversation and ideas with some of the leading members and friends of the Society.