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Members of The Academy have pledged to uphold, promote, and uncompromisingly adhere to the standards set forth in The Academy's Code of Professional Conduct. As such, The Academy of Design Professionals represents some of the most responsible and competent professionals in the design world.

Why an Academy of Design Professionals?
The Academy exists functionally as a home for the Code of Professional Conduct and symbolically as a public recognition of individuals who represent the highest standards of design professionalism and competence. Membership is voluntary. To join, a design professional need only read, consider, agree, and publicly pledge his or her promise to conform in every respect to The Academy's Code.
As an effort toward improved professionalism, The Academy administration urges design organizations to adopt this Code without substantive alteration.
The Code of Professional Conduct
The Code of Professional Conduct is an effort to address the many moral and rational inadequacies of other similar codes put forth by popular design organizations. By contrast, The Academy's Code of Professional Conduct is uncompromised by immoral ideals, irrational requirements, and irrelevant nods toward social activism; all of which compromise or distract from professionalism.
The Code was composed and edited by Andy Rutledge and draws from similar codes by the American Bar Association, AIGA, The American Institute of Architects, and others.
Membership is voluntary, and a privilege
Academy membership is maintained through consistent individual behavior in meeting the obligations defined in the Code. As there is no governing body for the professional practice of design, a member's standing is measured by their integrity, as clear to all with whom they work.
To join the Academy is to willingly invite scrutiny, to assume the onus of significant and codified obligation, and to be held to account by peers, colleagues, and clients.
View the list of Academy Members »

Make Your Pledge and Join the Academy of Design Professionals

First:
Read and carefully consider the Code of Professional Conduct
Next:
Make a public announcement proclaiming your individual dedication to the highest standards of professionalism, integrity, and competence and your promise to uphold the spirit and letter of the Code, including a link to the Code of Professional Conduct page. This proclamation can be in the form of a blog post, website content addition, Facebook posting, Tweet, or other permanent publication.
Last:
Complete and submit this pledge form.

Your Pledge

Whereas design professionals have certain fundamental obligations to society, to clients, to the profession, and to peers and colleagues, and…

Whereas in order to meet these obligations, design professionals should conform their practice according to specific moral ideals and ethical practices,

* * *

I hereby pledge my dedication to the highest standards of professionalism, integrity, and competence in design practice and promise to uphold the spirit and letter of the Code of Professional Conduct through consistent practice and habitual reflection on my actions.

  1. Your full name is required
  2. A link to your website or social media account is required

    Your listing name will link to your website. If you don't have your own website, your personal Facebook or Twitter URL will do nicely.

  3. Your email address is required
  4. A valid link to your public promise is required

    Yes, you first must publish your public promise to conform to the Code of Professional Conduct before submitting your pledge.

  5. All fields are required