CSD Considers Corporate Membership

The Design Association (DA) was set up in 2001 in anticipation of the need for a design business interface, which would form part of the Society’s long-term strategy for growth.

This strategy, developed during the Society’s period of reflection in the late 90s, determined involvement in all aspects of design use, provision and education in order for CSD to influence and set the design industry agenda.

To readers of The Designer, and active members of CSD, the roll out of many of our key initiatives will come as no surprise but it appears that the announcement of a couple of Design Association events in late April sent shock waves through the ‘design village’.

Only hours after details of the Creative Business Accelerator initiative were circulated, CSD started receiving phone calls from design consultancies seeking information about Design Association ‘membership’.

"Even the weekly design press were calling us seeking further information. The resulting article was reported with such gusto that other ‘design focused’ bodies were soon ‘demanding’ explanations," commented Frank Peters, CSD Chief Executive.

Older members and design commentators will of course remember that the Society has since the mid 1980s considered the valuable synergy of a ‘corporate membership’ scheme in furthering its objects and indeed was instrumental in founding such a scheme: ‘The Design Business Group' (which then changed its name to the Design Business Association) in 1986.

However, and despite the current conjecture, the focus of our attention at present is to introduce a string of events focused on providing a ‘business interface’ within the current structure.

Within the next few weeks a dedicated space on the CSD website will be given over to DA and details of all the events will be posted accordingly.

As for membership of DA, let’s see what design businesses want.

For more information contact The Design Association.