ARTA is Design Partner for the 2026 RGD In-House Design Awards
We’re excited to launch this year’s In-House Design Awards with branding by ARTA (Alberta Retired Teachers' Association) who take us behind the scenes of their creative process and the concept developed for the 2026 identity.
Open to anyone working in Canada or internationally as part of an internal creative team — including those within companies, government, non-profits, charities, institutions and other organizations where graphic design is not the core service — the RGD In-House Design Awards recognize and celebrate the outstanding work being produced inside organizations across sectors. In-house designers or teams may submit work completed in partnership with external design studios, provided the majority of the work was done in-house and/or supporting elements were developed by the external studio.
This program offers internal creative teams the opportunity to showcase their achievements, elevate the visibility of in-house design and gain recognition within the broader design community.
“We all saw this as an amazing opportunity to flex our design muscles in support of the RGD, and it’s also a chance to work on a project for a different brand. It’s exciting to design branding that reflects in-house designers and we’re proud to work together with the RGD. Challenging ourselves, creating designs that represent in-house designers and working with the RGD as an association were all meaningful reasons for us to take on this project. Branding is always exciting, and as in-house designers, it’s a rare and fun opportunity to design something unrelated to our own organization.” offers Virginia Quist RGD, Manager, Creative Services at ARTA.
We asked Virginia about the sources of inspiration behind the 2026 identity concept:
“For the 2026 In-House Design Awards, we were inspired by our everyday lives as in-house designers, and the wonderful creativity and chaos that happens within the office. Working out of a minimal office setting, the creative department is the bright burst of colour that enriches any organization with different perspectives. The various scribbly lines within the splash of colour indicate the non-linear path of creativity that happens in design and in the office.”
This project was different in that we were given a lot of freedom to flex our creativity while creating a brand that aligned with the RGD and in-house design. We are our own target demographic, but we also consulted with other in-house designers and dug deep into what it means to be an in-house designer.” says Virginia
One of the team members shared an unexpected insight from the process: “Designing for a target audience I am included in is surprisingly challenging. Like designing your personal website or logo, it can be difficult to consider how my brand is perceived from the outside, so it was helpful to get many opinions from other in-house creatives.” highlights Junior Graphic Designer from ARTA
“We are the target audience, so it allowed us to have a little fun making something that appealed to us, while keeping it professional and appealing to our and other employers.”
Virginia Quist RGD
We asked the team about the design process for tackling this project, and they shared:
“We approached this a little differently than our usual projects, and this has opened our eyes to new ways to work together on our own in-house projects as well. We brainstormed together, explored ideas individually, regrouped to refine concepts and then united around one direction to push it even further. Sometimes you need to take a step back and really think through a project without the daily deadlines crashing down.” shares Virginia
Brand Reveal Coming Soon
The visual identity for the 2026 RGD In-House Design Awards will be revealed in the months ahead—stay tuned for the official launch.
