American Society of Interior Designers

The American Society of Interior Designers (ASID) is the oldest and largest professional association for interior designers. Through education, knowledge sharing, advocacy, community building and outreach, the Society strives to advance the interior design profession and, in the process, to demonstrate and celebrate the power of design to positively change people’s lives. Its more than 40,000 members engage in a variety of professional programs and activities through a network of 48 chapters throughout the United States and Canada.

History

Founded in 1975 with the consolidation of the American Institute of Decorators (AID) and the National Society of Interior Designers (NSID), the American Society of Interior Designers is the oldest and largest professional organization for interior designers. Through a network of 48 chapters in the United States and Canada, as well as 325 student chapters, ASID establishes a common identity for professionals, aspiring professionals and businesses in the field of interior design. Of the Society's 20,000 practicing interior designers, 6,500 practice primarily in the commercial field with 4,000 practicing primarily as residential designers. The remaining 9,500 work in both commercial and residential design. ASID Industry Partners include more than 2,500 member firms with more than 6,000 individual representatives, uniting the professional designer with manufacturers of design-related products and services.The Society's membership also includes more than 12,000 students of interior design. ASID has Student chapters at colleges, universities and design schools with 2-year and 4-year programs throughout the U.S. and "virtual" chapters, such as Rhodec International.

Members are qualified by education, experience and examination, and adhere to a strict code of ethics and professional conduct. Through educational programs, research and conferences, ASID members receive the most current information on developments in design, as well as appropriate materials, technology, building codes, government regulations, flammability standards, sustainable and green design, product performance, design psychology, occupant populations, and more. Armed with this knowledge, ASID designers can create engaging and functional spaces to meet client needs, while protecting the health, safety and welfare of people in interior environments. ASID also supports legislative and advocacy efforts to protect interior designers’ right to practice.

ASID designers practice in all areas of interior design, including» Home/Model Homes » Office/Corporate » Health Care » Hospitality/Entertainment» Government/Institutional » Retail/Store Planning » Facilities Management

Membership

ASID has four membership categories:

Current Membership Requirements

Professional Members: The highest level of ASID membership is reserved for practitioners who have passed the National Council for Interior Design Qualification (NCIDQ) examination.

Allied Members: Practicing interior designers who have completed 40 semester or 60 quarter credit hours of interior design education from an accredited academic institution (need not be a CIDA accredited program).

Student Members: Students who are currently enrolled in an interior design program that requires at least 40 semester hours or 60 quarter credit hours of design-related coursework to graduate.

Industry Partner Members: Companies that provide products, services and equipment to the profession.

All ASID members have the opportunity to be involved with a local chapter.

= Member Benefits and Events =

Research and Publications

* "ASID ICON", the Society's award-winning magazine, the publication for interior design professionals. Published six times a year, "ASID ICON" includes design research and business trends, along with information on key Society and chapter issues and events.
* "ASID NewsFlash" delivers design and Society news biweekly via e-mail.
* ASID is a key nonprofit provider of information, knowledge and research for the interior design industry. Each year, ASID distributes more than 200,000 research and business publications through mail orders, online and at design conferences.
* "Eye on Design", a weekly industry newsletter exclusively for members, sent via e-mail, which provides research on current, newsworthy items within the industry.
* The ASID Web site [http://www.asid.org] features information, news, publications, marketing materials and other resources for professional designers, design students and the public. The site includes the Sustainable Design Resource Center and the Universal Design Resource Center, as well as the ASID Referral Service.

Events

* ASID features educational programs at major national meetings such as NeoCon, Hospitality Design Expo and Greenbuild that can be used for continuing education units (CEU) for Society and state CEU requirements. All of ASID's CEUs are accredited by the Interior Design Continuing Education Council.

Member Benefits

* The ASID Job Bank, listing employment opportunities for designers, is available to all interested employers and job seekers via www.asid.org.
* Recognition and awards programs including Fellows of ASID.
* A virtual network of designers and industry representatives through Connex, a member-only website that includes chat rooms, message boards, forums, and online directories.

= Advocacy =

ASID works to ensure interior designers' right to practice by supporting the profession's advocacy efforts for registration and licensure, building codes, public health, safety and welfare concerns, and other issues relevant to the interior design profession.

Platform Issues

ASID has embraced two platform issues: sustainable design and designing for an aging population.

Code of Ethics

All members are committed to upholding the ASID Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct, further supporting a strong community of reliable and upstanding members. A comprehensive process exists to both file and evaluate potential ethics violations.

= ASID Foundation =

Created in 1975 and now known as the ASID Foundation, the Foundation is the affiliated 501 (c)(3) charitable organization for ASID. The ASID Foundation’s mission is to support endeavors that capture and disseminate knowledge, encourage innovation, and benefit the health, safety and welfare of the public through interior design research, scholarship and education.

While ASID has chapters throughout the country and a membership of many thousands of individual members and Industry Partners, only a small portion of ASID dollars go to the Foundation. As such, the Foundation looks to those individuals and organizations to help partner in the response to issues facing interior design and issues that affect the health, safety and welfare of the world community as well as people who are served by the profession. All donations to the Foundation are tax deductible.