Membership is open to persons with recognised design qualifications and/or experience in the fields of design research, design practice, design management, and design education.
In pursuing its objectives the Society shall observe the basic policy of non-discrimination. Membership will be without regard to race, religion, political philosophy, ethnic origin, citizenship, language or gender.
An individual who has fully paid the designated membership subscription for a year is considered a member during that year. There are four classes of membership: Honorary Fellow, Fellow, Member and Associate Member.
An Honorary Fellow is an individual recognised by the Society to have rendered outstanding services to the aims of the Society or to the design community in general, due regard being paid to the fact that this is the highest honour the Society can bestow.
A Fellow is an individual recognised by the Society to have made a truly significant contribution to the Society and its aim and objectives.
A Member is an individual whose membership is based on qualifications and/or professional experience, in the fields of design.
An Associate Member is an individual who is actively engaged in a design field and who is achieving qualifications and/or experience to be admitted into the Society as a Member. An individual can become an Associate Member by applying to the Society and can only be an Associate Member for a maximum period, which will be defined and announced by the Board of Management.
Procedures to become an Associate Member, a Member, a Fellow or an Honorary Fellow will be defined and announced by the Board of Management.
A member shall be entitled to append to their name the initial letters indicating their membership as follows:
From 01/07/2010, the Design Society introduces a completely new membership fee structure: Membership fees will then be differentiated according to the gross national income (GNI) per capita of the member’s home country, using the World Bank Atlas method (for details see the World Bank homepage). This means:
The aim of this measure is to help to build a truly world-wide community for all aspects of development and design, in particular by helping scientists and practitioners from developing countries join in.
For further information, please download the following table: worldbank_classification_20100510.pdf
Two more modifications of the membership fee structure are:
