The Raleigh chapter of AIGA is proving you don’t have to be a designer to make someone smile. The organization’s Design for Hope initiative needs your help in order to bring 1,000 pieces of art to the children of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. With enough contributions each child will be given a free, mixed set of cards to use for holidays and other special occasions. The best part? Creators of all skill levels and mediums are urged to participate.

Card design by The Creative Armory team. (Photo: The Creative Armory )

“Personally, I’m a huge supporter of St. Jude and was trying to figure out a way to merge our passionate design community nationwide with a way to support the courageous patients there,” says Taylor Cashdan, AIGA Raleigh’s Director of Uniting People. “After brainstorming with the St. Jude team, we came up with Design for Hope.”

Card design by Andrea Stan (Photo: AIGA Raleigh)

Cashdan goes on to say “Initiatives like Design for Hope give creatives at any skill level the chance to make an impact on an audience that they normally wouldn’t have access to–and vice versa, expose a new audience to the great folks of the creative community and beyond.”  While there are no limits on the amount of cards you can submit, the organization is requesting that all participants read and follow the guidelines.

Card design by Jeff Solak (Photo: AIGA Raleigh)

“The cool part about this initiative is the magnitude of one submission,” says Cashdan. “What I don’t think people realize is that by submitting one piece of art, they have the chance to impact not only the patient but the person they give the card to and every person that sees the card after that. If we reach the 1,000 submission goal that I’m shooting for, it would mean we have the chance to reach thousands of people as a whole with Design for Hope. Bringing smiles to that many faces is the driving force behind initiatives like this and should make every participant proud.”

Card design by Taylor Cashdan. (Photo: AIGA Raleigh)