Honoring Nancy Ruzow
Each year, the AIGA Fellow Award recognizes designers who elevate the practice of design through leadership, education, mentorship, and community impact. It honors people who raise standards not only through their work, but through their contributions to the people around them. This year, AIGA Connecticut is proud to recognize two individuals whose careers reflect those values: Nancy Ruzow and Karl Heine.
This feature spotlights Nancy, a designer whose path has shaped the creative community in Connecticut and inspired designers across generations.
A Career Built on Curiosity and Care
For Nancy, being named a Fellow is deeply meaningful. She describes it as a reminder that contribution is just as important as creation. Design, for her, has evolved into being about connections. It has been a lifelong collaboration built on curiosity, inspiration, and a desire to help others communicate their mission.
Her career began before digital tools were being used in the design world. She learned design with markers, tracing paper, paste-up boards, and a willingness to put herself out there. She cold-called companies after researching them at the library, building her business one conversation at a time. As the tools changed, she evolved with them. She shifted from QuarkXpress to InDesign and embraced Illustrator as her favorite. Today, she is learning everything she can about AI and how it may shape creative work.
What has stayed constant is her commitment to understanding her clients and creating work that truly moves people. Highlights from her career include materials for the University of Oxford that helped inspire a 240 million dollar gift, a bold rebrand for Earthplace, and fundraising materials for the Hillary Rodham Clinton Chair in History that encouraged a donor to give at a significantly higher level. She also remembers the joy of an architect who saw her logo concepts and immediately felt understood.
Moments like these reflect her goal: work that is meaningful, human, and strategic. Work that helps people make an impact.
A Mentor and Leader in the Creative Community
Nancy discovered her love of mentorship early in her career. She learned to guide interns while she was still building her own confidence, and over time realized how much she enjoyed helping others grow.
Her leadership continued through Fly Female Founders and the Designers Roundtable, which she eventually transformed into the Creatives Roundtable. What was once a small accountability group became a full coaching and education community. She proudly calls herself the Head Cheerleader, because she loves encouraging and supporting creative professionals as they build stronger businesses and clearer paths forward.
Teaching typography was another important chapter for Nancy. It tied together her passion for design, her love of mentoring, and her mission to help others see their own potential. She guided nervous students, tired students, and designers who needed help rediscovering their voice. Her leadership approach is rooted in patience, empathy, and a deep appreciation for the small moments when something finally clicks.
Shaped by Connecticut’s Creative Community
Nancy says the Connecticut design community has taught her that there is always something new to learn and always someone new to learn it from. She values the range of ages, skills, and perspectives that come together here. It keeps her inspired and open to new ideas.
Her advice to emerging designers reflects everything she has learned. Believe in yourself. Stay curious. Think with your hands before turning on the computer. Sketching creates space for ideas to evolve. Do not live in a silo. Ask for opinions. Let go of clients who drain your energy. And always market yourself, because no one can hire you if they don’t know you exist.
If she could speak to her younger self, she would say to find a mentor early, use a solid contract, and take more time off. Rest makes the work stronger and the creative process healthier.
Looking Ahead
This is Nancy’s final semester teaching. She will miss it, but looks forward to staying connected through portfolio reviews at SCSU, AIGA, and the Tyler School of Art. She is excited to continue working with organizations that are doing meaningful work, including Boys and Girls Village, Earthplace, and The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History.
Nancy also plans to hand over leadership of the Creatives Roundtable at the end of 2027. She will continue designing, travel more with her husband and close friends, take girls trips, enjoy family beach vacations, and spend as much time as possible with her grandchildren Soren, Wes, and Bowie, along with their growing collection of trucks. These are the moments that light her up.
Celebrate Nancy and Karl on December 10th
This year’s AIGA Connecticut Fellow Award Celebration honors two creative leaders whose contributions have shaped the design community in powerful ways. Alongside Nancy, we celebrate Karl Heine, founder of creativeplacement. Karl has spent his career connecting people and ideas, championing creative talent, and helping shape a thriving ecosystem for designers in Connecticut and beyond. Stay tuned for his featured blog post next week.
The Fellow Award is the highest honor an AIGA chapter can give. It recognizes lifetime achievement, excellence in design, mentorship, leadership, and service to the profession. This event brings together educators, students, emerging designers, seasoned professionals, and the wider creative community to celebrate the people who make our field extraordinary.
Guests can expect an evening full of stories, inspiration, connection, and celebration. There will be tributes to our honorees, conversations about the future of design, and plenty of opportunities to meet peers and reconnect with familiar faces.
AIGA Connecticut Fellow Award Celebration:
Wednesday, December 10, 2025
6:00 to 9:00 PM
Greenwood Features
269 Greenwood Ave, Bethel, CT
Join us for a night that honors creative legacy and the people who make design matter. We hope to see you there.
