Her Majesty The Queen has approved an Order on 13 July 2011 amending the Royal Charter of the Chartered Society of Designers granting it the power to award the designation of Chartered Designer and to Maintain a Register of those Chartered Designers.

The original charter granted in 1976 recognised the efforts of the Society since its inception in promoting and fostering professional study and practice. It also set out objects which included achieving a recognised profession of design.

The significance of this news cannot be over emphasised. The Society is now able to award Chartered Designer status to those practicing in design and satisfying a level of competence determined by CSD. The new powers place the Society in the enviable position of not only setting standards for professional practice in design but also monitoring and regulating that practice.

However, as with all power there comes responsibility and the Society must now set to work determining the manner in which this power may be exercised for the benefit of the design profession, all who aspire to enter it and those who benefit from the provision of design.

The first task is to ensure that the title of Chartered Designer is protected and over the coming year 2012 the Society will be taking all measures necessary to ensure that nobody is referring to themselves as being chartered. The term Chartered Designer is a registered collective trademark of the Society and anyone using this term will face legal action by the Society.

Work to achieve Chartered Designer status commenced as far back as 2001 and during the past decade various options for delivery of the status have been considered. More recently in garnering support for this initiative the Society counselled the views of other bodies operating in specific areas of design. Having now been granted the power to set up such a register the Society is anxious to consider the views of as wide a spectrum as possible before determining how it will set up, maintain and operate the register. The Society has a responsibility to ensure that any such register is sustainable and for the benefit of the profession as a whole whilst working also for the benefit of education, commerce and the public.

The views of the membership of the design sector will be extremely important in influencing the outcome of this consultation and we would like to hear from you. You can send any comments to csd@csd.org.uk

Members can find further information on the Q&A section within the member's area.