Our history

Founded in 1927 as ‘Bund Österreichischer Gebrauchsgraphiker – BÖG’, designaustria is Europe’s third oldest design organisation. At that time, commercial art began to break free from the visual arts as an independent creative discipline. As the term ‘graphic design’ became globally established, the association was renamed Grafik-Design Austria (GDA) in 1985. In 1992, the name was changed to designaustria to reflect the association’s comprehensive embrace of the design profession’s interests.

Read more about the history of designaustria:
‘Im Interesse einer guten Gestaltung. 90 Jahre BÖG – GDA – DA’, by Christian Maryska – only available in German