The AIGA SD board is excited to present the winners of the 2019 Idea Fund grants.

The Idea Fund is a grant program that gives AIGA a way to fund designer-initiated projects that positively impact the local community. Our selection committee reviewed all proposals and selected three that matched the AIGA mission: Make our community better by making designers better.

Crosswalk project at 8th & Weber Ave

Leah Simmons paints the Sioux Falls flag to create a more visible crosswalk

ABOUT THE PROJECT

Leah Simmons wanted to address pedestrian safety in some of the most heavily travelled areas downtown Sioux Falls. She initially considered several locations, but after working with the city’s traffic engineer, they settled on the intersection of Weber Avenue and 8th Street. As Leah points out, that location, “is a bustling thoroughfare with traffic from the city’s bus depot and delivery trucks. It’s also a busy pedestrian route as one of the main ways for anyone heading to The Banquet, Mission, or Bishop Dudley House from downtown. And if all this traffic wasn’t enough, to complicate matters further, there is also an iconic, wedge-shaped building that obstructs the view of eastbound foot traffic.”

Leah was awarded the AIGA SD Idea Fund grant to help to cover material costs to develop and paint the crosswalk design.

Design for the crosswalk, based on the Sioux Falls flag

Getting ready to paint!

Leah Simmons paints her design based on the Sioux Falls flag to create a more visible crosswalk

About the Creator

Leah Simmons is an in-house designer and marketing manager for Johnstone Supply, as well as a freelance designer and artist. Leah’s mission is to utilize design to slow traffic and raise awareness of pedestrians in Sioux Falls crosswalks. Leah has been awarded the AIGA SD Idea Fund to help cover the costs of paint and materials to create a crosswalk design that will draw an increased awareness of pedestrian crossings and slow traffic.