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Professional Code of Conduct

To establish professional design standing worldwide it is necessary to have a broad acceptance of a shared professional ethos and a sense of common cause. Only the collective action of practitioners can establish the professional standing of a discipline.

new launch: professional code of conduct for designers

Achieving professional standing begins with self-awareness and self-definition. Only when the broad community of practitioners adopts a common approach, can wider society be expected to acknowledge the professional status of the discipline. Once these standards are established, the discipline benefits from enhanced respect, status and influence, independence...

Translations of the code

The ICoD Professional Code of Conduct has been translated by ICoD Members into many languages. Below you can find a link to the version in your language. Those noted OT are official translations provided by the Council.

is it kind? ICoD announces international design day 2024 theme

What if designers first asked,   is it kind?   What if the measure of design was how well it cared for people and their relationships rather than how profitable it was? This year's International Design Day theme is about building kindness into design practice and features an international forum produced by  ICoD Member Lithuanian...

ICoD code of conduct translated to turkish

The Council is pleased to announce the Professional Code of Conduct for designers now exists in the official Turkish translation produced by ICoD Member the Turkish Graphic Designers Association (GMK) .

ICoD code of conduct translated to arabic

The Council is pleased to announce the Professional Code of Conduct for designers now exists in official Arabic translation. ICoD Member Lebanese Graphic Design Syndicate   (LGDS)  revised and reviewed the original translation and present a version more adapted to the Arab-speaking community in the region....

ICoD code translated to spanish

The Council is pleased to announce the Professional Code of Conduct for designers now exists in official Spanish translation. ICoD Member RAD (Colombia) helmed the translation process with support from a review board composed of Universidad Iberoamericana (Mexico), Bolivia Poster Biennial BICeBé and Universidad de Monterrey (Mexico). The...

ICoD stands against crowd-sourced competition for the Tokyo Olympics 2020 logo

In response to the controversy over the withdrawal of the Tokyo Olympics 2020 logo designed by Kenjiro Sano, and the subsequent open call for a replacement design, the International Council of Design strongly reiterates its stance against speculative work, emphasising the detrimental effects of crowd-sourced competitions to both designers and clients....

JAGDA name change calls in expanded disciplines

On 01 July 2021, Japan Graphic Designers Association Inc. (JAGDA), changed its name to Japan Graphic Design Association Inc. The name change aims to expand JAGDA’s focus from representing graphic designers to include support for a range of design fields and interdependent industries. While the acronym JAGDA remains the same, the association is ‘calling...

designing for access

Design can bring access to information, education, healthcare, well-being and even joy. While the assumption is that design makes lives better and more functional, making design ‘accessible’—able to be reached and used—is not a given. Providing access to certain material realities—to spaces, to knowledge and experiences—is not always fair and just....

THE MAKING OF A DESIGN SOCIETY IN IRAN

think twice before participating in challenges like ‘foodicons’

We've all seen these 'initiatives to promote design value'. They take the form of design awards asking for new work, design competitions that are thinly-veiled schemes to get design work for free, or 'challenges' that crowdsource design for some 'cause.' Let's call these what they are: exploitation of designers.  

best (not spec) practices

ICoD strongly believes in the value of professional design and fair compensation for design work. 'Spec competitions' like the Government of Canada’s recent Canada 150 Logo Design Contest undermine the professional standing of design and produce poor results.

the council releases two new design award competitions best practice papers

What are you supporting?

Now, more than ever, design needs a voice. As a federating body, the Council unites and amplifies our community. We act on behalf of the needs, challenges, ideas and efforts of hundreds of design entities.

A well-designed world

ICoD position on unpaid work

Member Rights & Responsibilities

Belonging to an international organisation is to engage in an process that aims to increase the profile of design through the collaboration of sector actors. In short, we can do more together than we can do alone. The Council is a vector through which national organisations and institutions can engage their international ambitions...

History of the International Council of Design

Icograda, the International Council of Graphic Design Associations, is founded in London on 27 April 1963 by two graphic designers, Peter Kneebone and Willy de Majo. The original Members include 28 associations from 17 European countries.

designing for humanity

In the current state of the world, it can feel like we are losing our humanity. Technology is creating uncontrollable polarisation. The effects of climate disturbances and political turmoil are driving great migrations of people creating refugee crises, mass starvation and the rise of racist movements. Through all this, we are hopeful. While there...