DIA Code of Ethics

Guide to Professional Conduct.

1 Introduction

An important object of the DIA is to have its members recognised in the design professions and among the general public as having professional status of the highest standard.

To achieve this the DIA expects its members to conduct themselves honourably and honestly in their dealings with their clients, the community and their colleagues.

This Guide is based on the Model Code of Professional Conduct for Designers which has been accepted by members of the following bodies: International Council of Societies of Industrial Design (ICSID), International Federation of Interior Designers (IFI), International Council of Graphic Design Associations (ICOGRADA).

The DIA offers this code as a guide to acceptable behaviour.

The DIA’s Constitution provides for the expulsion of members who do not comply.

2 Definitions

"Designer" means an individual practising as a freelance or salaried designer or a group of designers acting in partnership or within other forms of association and includes:

2.1 Designers concerned with products and capital goods

2.2 Interior architects/interior designers & interior decorators

2.3 Designers concerned with graphic and visual communication

2.3 Designers concerned with textiles & fabrics

3 The designer's responsibility to the community

3.1 A designer accepts a professional obligation to further the social and aesthetic standards of the community

3.2 A designer shall act in keeping with the honour and dignity of the profession

3.3 A designer shall not consciously assume or accept a position in which personal interests conflict with professional duty

4 The designer's responsibility to the client

4.1 A designer shall act in the client's interests within the limits of the designer's professional duties

4.2 A designer shall not work simultaneously on assignments which are in direct competition without informing the clients or employers concerned, except in specific cases where it is customary for the designer to work at the same time for various competitors

4.3 A designer shall treat all knowledge of a client's intentions, production methods and business organization as confidential and shall not, at any time divulge such information without the consent of the client. It is the designer's responsibility to ensure that all members of staff are similarly bound to confidentiality

5 The designer's responsibility to other designers

5.1 A designer must not attempt, directly or indirectly, to supplant another designer who has a firm commitment with a client in relation to a particular project

5.2 A designer shall not knowingly accept any professional assignment upon which another designer has been acting without notifying the other designer

5.3 A designer must be fair in criticism and shall not denigrate the work or reputation of a fellow designer

5.4 A designer shall not accept instructions from a client which knowingly involve plagiarism nor consciously act in a manner involving plagiarism

5.5 A designer should avoid the speculative or competitive provision of design services for a commercial client (referred to as free pitching).

6 Designer's remuneration

6.1 Before accepting an assignment a designer shall define exactly and comprehensively to the client the basis on which the total remuneration is calculated

6.2 A designer who is financially concerned with any company, firm or business which may benefit from any recommendations made in the course of the commissioned work shall notify the client or employer of this fact in advance

6.3 A designer who is asked to advise on the selection of designers shall accept no payment in any form from the designer recommended

7 Publicity

7.1 Notwithstanding anything elsewhere stated in this Guide to Professional Conduct, circumspect advertising may be properly employed by the designer to announce the practice and services offered. The media or other forms of communication used and the content of the announcement shall be dignified, becoming to a designer and characteristically free of any factor or circumstance that could bring disrepute to the profession. Information given must be truthful, factual and free from ostentatious, complimentary or laudatory expressions or implications

7.2 A designer may allow the client to use the designer's name for the promotion of articles designed or service provided, but only in a manner which is appropriate to the status of the profession

7.3 A designer shall not allow his/her name to be associated with the realisation of a design which has been so changed by the client as no longer to be substantially the original work of the designer

Jurgen Schirmacher

MDIA

Natalie Wright

FDIA

Robyn Wood

MDIA

Gary Bortz

FDIA

Cherel Millist

MDIA

Lisa Hunt

MDIA