In Toronto, Ontario, on March 2nd, 2023, at the age of 76. Arlene is survived and lovingly remembered by Robert Cushman, her husband of 48 years, her three children Chloe (Peter), Anthony and Mitchell (Amy), her grandchild Sacha and her brother Lorne (Penny).

DIAC acted as subject matter experts for this labour market analysis of Toronto’s design workforce. 

Copernicus is an Ontario-based manufacturer of learning tools and furniture for schools. Since it was founded in 1989, Copernicus has been making products that improve the classroom experience for teachers and for their students.

Now that we have entered yet another wave of the pandemic, we continue to require creative design solutions to adapt how we live and work. In this series, DIAC collects some of the recent design success stories to share with you.

After 2 years and 3 months into the COVID-19 pandemic, there remains a need for fast and accurate virus tests at point of need. MicroGEM, a medical technology company based in Charlottesville, Virginia, has developed the first point of care PCR saliva test to be authorized by the FDA for emergency use in the US.

On October 26th, 2021 the City of Toronto and the Design Industry Advisory Committee (DIAC) held a half-day virtual design charrette to explore innovations for enhancing safe outdoor dining and entertainment activities into the colder months.

DIAC Celebrates 20th Anniversary Milestone, Featured Projects, Design Impacts Framework, Information Graphics in the Pandemic, Toronto Design Sector Study and CaféTO Winterization Design Charrette.

Now that people are returning to the office and spending more time in public spaces, they have concerns about how often and how thoroughly surfaces such as door knobs, buttons, levers and handles are sanitized. HandSandal is a simple hand hygiene device designed by Design 1st that allows for zero-contact with potentially contaminated surfaces in public environments.