TORONTO—Communication Designers of Toronto (CDOT) has recently announced that it’s expanding its association model into other major international design centres. To facilitate this expansion, CDOT has renamed itself the Communication Designers Association (CDA).

As a global non-profit association, CDA's mission is to help organize resources and events for communication design professionals in major design cities using a proactive community focus. Its first international chapter, CDA Zurich, is scheduled to open in the new year.

"The CDOT association model was successful enough in Toronto that it could be duplicated in other major design cities – providing a global network that would be beneficial for all locations involved," says CDA global organizer Errol Saldanha, who founded CDOT in 2007.

But before it sets up shop in another Canadian city, CDA wants to first develop clear chapter criteria, says Saldanha.

“We do not want to duplicate areas that are well served by other associations [but] focus on large designer populations that are hungry for change.”

Contact: www.beyondgraphic.org; www.communicationdesigners.org