Design for Democracy

Design for Democracy team

AIGA Design for Democracy’s team consists of AIGA staff, Election Design Fellows, AIGA member-volunteers, ad hoc project partners and advisors.

Get Involved

AIGA members are encouraged to:

Current contributors include:


Kirstin Butler, program manager
Kirstin Butler is Design for Democracy’s program manager, focusing on government service design. She joined the group in early 2009 to support volunteer advocacy efforts, integration of the government service design offering, and the expansion of Design for Democracy’s communication materials.

Currently, Kirstin also conducts fiscal policy research for the Council of State Governments. Previously, she edited the GOODsheets, a series of infographics produced by GOOD magazine and Starbucks, and served as a Curatorial Fellow at the Whitney Museum of American Art’s Independent Study Program and as a manager for programming at mtvU, MTV’s college network. Kirstin holds a bachelor’s degree in art and architectural history and a master’s degree in public policy, both from Harvard University.

Drew Davies, design director
Drew Davies is Design for Democracy’s design director for elections. He joined the effort to implement a ballot redesign pilot test for Nebraska’s 2006 general election and remained on as a member of the core design and research team that developed the U.S. Election Assistance Commission’s national ballot design guidelines. Drew counsels election officials from across the country on the design of ballots and other voter-facing election materials.

Drew is also founder and design director of Oxide Design Co., an Omaha-based communications and information design firm. The quality of Oxide’s work has been recognized by numerous national and international design competitions, including the One Show, 365: AIGA Annual Design Competitions, the CLIO Awards, Graphis, LogoLounge and Communication Arts. A former chapter president, Drew currently sits on the advisory board of AIGA’s Nebraska and Las Vegas chapters. Drew graduated from Coe College with a major in painting and graphic design.

David Gibson, program director
David Gibson is a director of Design for Democracy’s government service design effort and contributor to Design for Democracy’s communications strategy.

David’s leadership on projects for the Chicago Park District, the Partnership for Downtown Baltimore, the City of Charlotte and Sound Transit in Washington State are just a few examples of his commitment to making the public his most important client.  As co-founder and managing principal of Two Twelve, David is dedicated to delivering thoughtful, user-centered design established the firm’s reputation as the first advocate of “public information design,” the planning and presentation of complex information to diverse audiences.

David began his career with the Ontario Ministry of National Resources, in his native Canada. He studied architecture at Cornell University, attended the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design, and received an MFA in graphic design from Yale University. He is a past president and board member of the Society for Environmental Graphic Design, and recently completed his term on the AIGA national board. He is author of The Wayfinding Handbook: Information Design for Public Places, published by Princeton Architectural Press in 2009.

Carla Hall, program director
Carla Hall is a director of Design for Democracy’s government service design effort.

An expert in brand strategy and design for more than 30 years, Carla works closely with leaders in both the public and private sectors, including the Smithsonian, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, The Vanguard Group, JPMorgan Chase, Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors and the Parkinson’s Disease Foundation. Focusing on the audience experience, Carla plans and creates sustainable frameworks to ensure clarity, consistency and integration of communications across all types of media, and guides institutions through a disciplined process that includes research, change management and communications design strategy.

Carla is a former treasurer of AIGA New York and guest lecturer at the State University of New York. She currently serves as co-chairperson of the Butternut Valley Alliance, director of the Otsego Land Trust and advisor to The Corcoran Gallery in Washington, D.C. Carla graduated from Middlebury College in 1974.

Ann Harakawa, program director
Ann Harakawa is a director of Design for Democracy’s government service design effort.

Ann has more than 20 years’ experience directing large, complex graphic design projects for public agencies and prominent institutions. As a principal of Two Twelve, Ann has guided the development of projects for The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, The Office of the Mayor of New York City, the New York City Economic Development Corporation, the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation and the New York City Housing Authority.

A graduate of the Punahou School in Hawai’i, Ann earned her BFA from the Rhode Island School of Design and MFA in graphic design from Yale University. She was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship to work in Japan before beginning her design career in New York. She serves on the board of The Art Directors Club and was a member of the 2006 Japanese-American delegation sponsored by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Japan Foundation Center for Global Partnership, and organized through the Japanese American National Museum.

Sylvia Harris, program director
Sylvia Harris is a director of Design for Democracy’s government service design effort and contributor to Design for Democracy’s organizational strategy.

An expert in user-centered design, Sylvia has helped organizations that serve the public interest to plan unique, effective and sustainable visitor communications programs. Sylvia guides clients through a process that includes strategic planning, policy development, and innovation management. She has developed visitor experience plans for Lincoln Center, New York Presbyterian Hospital, Weil Cornell Medical Center and Columbia University.

Sylvia is currently a member of the U.S. Postal Service Citizens’ Stamp Advisory Committee and is on the advisory committees of WNYC’s “Studio 360” and the New York City Department of Transportation. She has also lectured around the world and written numerous articles on culture, design and diversity. From 1990 through 2000, Sylvia was a design critic at the Yale University School of Art. She received her MFA from Yale in 1980 and a BFA from Virginia Commonwealth University in 1975.

Chelsea Mauldin, program director
Chelsea Mauldin is a director of Design for Democracy’s government service design effort and contributor to Design for Democracy’s communications strategy.

As an editor, information architect and urban planner, Chelsea translates complex policy considerations into publications and public spaces that are engaging and easy to use. Her recent communications projects have included the New York City Department of Transportation’s Street Design Manual, as well as Designing the Taxi, Sustainable New York City and High Performance Infrastructure Guidelines, all published by the Design Trust for Public Space, where she was deputy director until 2006.

Currently, Chelsea serves as the executive director of the Montague Street Business Improvement District, where she leads initiatives in public policy, urban design and economic development. She received her MSc in city design and social science from the London School of Economics and her BA in English and social science from the University of California at Berkeley.