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

Interior design

Interior design describes a group of various yet related projects that involve turning an interior space into an effective setting for the range of human activities are to take place there. An interior designer is someone who conducts such projects...

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 six membership categories

Professional Membership: Professional members expand their knowledge and network in the highest level of ASID membership. They have completed a course of accredited education and equivalent work experience in interior design and have successfully passed the National Council for Interior Design Qualification (NCIDQ) examination.

Allied Membership: Allied members receive the resources of a professional society as they continue to develop their interior design career. Eligible individuals are practicing interior designers who have completed 40 semester or 60 quarter credit hours in interior design education from an accredited institution (university, college or technical school). Continuing education coursework/hours do not count toward meeting the education requirement for membership.

Educator Membership: This level is for educators who are actively engaged as department chairs or full-time instructors in a post-secondary program of interior design education at any university or accredited school of interior design that requires completion of 40 semester credit hours in interior design-related courses. Eligible educators receive a discounted dues rate as allied or professional members, depending on their qualifications.

Student Advancement Membership:ASID hopes your student membership has helped you forge a personal network of professional contacts that will advance your career. It's time to build on that solid foundation of support, values and resources and advance to allied membership.

Student Members: Student members prepare for their career by joining the ASID network. Membership is available to students currently enrolled in an interior design program of at least 40 credit hours or 60 quarter credit hours of interior design coursework to graduate.

Industry Partner Membership: Industry Partners join ASID to gain access to the designer and student community. Members include interior design industry manufacturers and their representatives, related trade associations and market centers.

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

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 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 =mchat rooms, message boards, forums, and online directories.

Legislative Policy

ASID revised their legislative policy in January of 2009. The policy was revised to best serve the societies membership and goals. The legislative policy of the organization is as follows:

1. ASID supports the pursuit of legal recognition of the profession of interior design. In doing so, ASID believes accomplishing legal recognition is best achieved through the enactment of legislation that:

a. Does not limit, restrict or prevent the practice of interior design;

b. Does not limit, restrict or prevent anyone from using the title “interior design” or “interior designer;”

c. Allows state-qualified interior designers to (a) use the title “registered,” “certified” or “licensed” interior designer and (b) perform such additional services related to the practice of interior design as applicable governing jurisdictions deem appropriate for statequalified interior designers to perform. (amended 1/09)

2. ASID supports the National Council for Interior Design Qualifications (NCIDQ) as the body whose professional exam tests minimum competency for state qualified interior designers.

Platform Issues

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

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.