The following four individuals were among many nominated by CL readers and selected by our panel of community insiders for the inaugural presentation of the CL Influentials. Each quarter, Creative Loafing will be accepting your nominations for people who you, our readers, feel deserve the accolades and attention they may not otherwise receive for making Atlanta such a great place to live.

All four recipients were asked five questions to introduce themselves to readers. The questions – and their answers – follow.

Maurice had always enjoyed using computers, even as far back as elementary school. He intended to get a computer science degree, but found that his degree program wasn’t very practical. He switched gears a little and became a math major. Maurice was named as one of GDUSA’s “People to Watch” in 2018, and was named one of Atlanta’s “Power 30 Under 30″ in the field of Science and Technology by the Apex Society. Maurice was also selected as one of HP’s “50 Tech Tastemakers” in conjunction with Black Web 2.0, and was also selected by Atlanta Tribune as one of 2014’s Young Professionals. He recently won the Steven Heller Prize for Cultural Commentary from AIGA. He’s the host of the Revision Path podcast, highlighting black designers and developers.

Cherry is the creator of the award-winning podcast Revision Path, which highlights black designers, developers and content creators.

For the second year, AIGA, the professional association for design, has awarded The Steven Heller Prize for Cultural Commentary: this year to Allison Arieff and Maurice Cherry. This prize recognizes writers who best exemplify the tradition of prolific writing and boundless curiosity established by designer and wordsmith Steven Heller, who has contributed and inspired engaging commentary about design and culture for the past three decades. (Not to mention, he’s a frequent Design Observer contributor.)

Fellow designer and AIGA Diversity & Inclusion task force member Nakita M. Pope spoke with Maurice Cherry, creator of the well-known, award-winning podcast Revision Path and the annual 28 Days of the Web project (among others) about design education, diversity in design, his advocacy work, and personal inspirations.

AIGA, the professional association for design, recognizes Allison Arieff and Maurice Cherry with the 2018 Steven Heller Prize for Cultural Commentary. They will be honored at the AIGA Awards Gala on April 20 in New York City, alongside recipients of the 2018 AIGA Medal and the AIGA Corporate Leadership Award.

This annual prize recognizes writers who best exemplify the tradition of prolific writing and boundless curiosity established by Steven Heller, who has contributed and inspired engaging commentary about design and culture for the past three decades.