Home
About
New
The Forums
Tips & Tutorials
Articles
Cartel Gear
Cartel Network
Downloads
Reading List
Software
Q & A
Press Releases
Contact
Market Place
Terms of Use
Sponsorship
Cartel Awards
Contribute
Link to Us
Propaganda
Site Map

TDC Lounge
Design Events
Post Your Event
Design Blogs
Design Podcasts

Code of Ethics and Standards of Professional Practice
Professional Graphic Designers Association (PGDA) Mission Statement:

"Our mission is to establish, through industry consensus, a code of ethics and standards of professional practices that are targeted toward educating clients about the value of graphic design, as well as creating a smoother working relationship between clients and designers."

PGDA Aims and Objectives
Following are the objectives for the formation of the PGDA:

1. A strategy for creating professional, ethical, client-focused standards and making these standards easily available.
2. A strategy for educating clients about the value of marketing and design.
3. A strategy for the promotion of the PGDA to both clients and designers (grass-roots, viral-marketing, forum-postings, affiliations, use of membership fees for advertisements, etc.).
4. A strategy for aliances with related graphics and design web sites/organizations and business groups.
5. Creation of a web site that clients can visit for more information about ethical design practices. The site is to be simple, non-threatening and easily accessible to clients.
   

Principles

In an effort to create a smooth and productive working relationship with every client, members of the PGDA strive to:

1. Always act in the best interests of the client and the client's business.
2. Always work with contracts for the mutual protection of themselves and clients, abide by said contracts, and never unreasonably withdraw services.
3. Always engage in ethical business practices, which include maintaining honest and forthright communications with clients, avoiding hidden fees or costs, and avoiding unsolicited electronic marketing.
4. Always document all agreements with clients and keep accurate records.
5. Always protect the privacy and rights of clients by never inappropriately disclosing information about a client's business, and avoiding conflicts of interest.
6. Always represent themselves, their skills and the PGDA accurately and professionally.
7. Always promote client education of best practices in the areas of design and/or marketing.

Members of the PGDA also endeavor to maintain the highest level of integrity in our profession, and promote the value and legitimacy of design and marketing by:

1. Never working on speculation or for the promise of future payments or work.
2. Never plagiarizing the works of others, or knowingly infringing upon copyrights or trademarks.
3. Never creating work that disregards the health and safety of the community, or is blatantly discriminatory or offensive.
4. Never using work for the purpose of self-promotion without the knowledge and consent of clients.
5. Never reselling or repurposing finished works to other clients.
6. Never sacrificing design quality or integrity, no matter how small the project.
7. Never misrepresenting involvement or failing to attribute proper credit for collaborative or work-for-hire projects.
8. Never using unattributed/uncredited text, articles or other materials the designer did not create for the purpose of self-promotion or self-marketing.
9. Never allowing skills and knowledge of the industry to stagnate or fail to evolve

Furthermore, the members of the PGDA make the following promises for every project:

1. We strive for excellence in branding, aesthetic design, and visual communication, with the goal of improving the business of every client.
2. We strive for excellence in the quality of every project, so that they are free of mistakes and technically sound in order to achieve efficient production.
3. We strive for excellence in communication with every client and production contact so that every step of the project flows smoothly.

Benefits to Clients:

1. A centralized location for information regarding ethical and professional standards within the graphic design industry.
2. Protection (in the form of working with members) from unethical business practices.
3. A forum for airing grievances and concerns or offering suggestions for the industry.
4. A means to find designers who have vowed to uphold the principles of the PGDA as working with members of the PGDA will ensure a smoother, more productive experience.
5. A means for education about the design industry, including best practices and benefits for professional-quality marketing and design.
6. A means for exposure of their business / service through case-studies, announcements, press releases, etc.

Designer benefits:

1. One compact site where clients can be sent to learn about ethical business practices.
   The PGDA can be used as a marketing and promotional tool, and profiles/portfolios for paid members can provide additional exposure.
2. The promotion of the PGDA, through press releases and articles, will help to promote all members.
3. Low-cost membership fees.

Certification

The formation of certification, testing or any other criteria to "officially" recognize what constitutes a Graphic Designer is NOT part of the PGDA Mission Statement. The PGDA is intended as a resource for providing examples of ethical guidelines and "best practices," all intended to better educate clients about the values and benefits of professional quality graphic design and marketing. The goal is to create a more trusting and smoother working relationship between clients and designers.

Part of what will help to establish trust, at least early in the life of the PGDA, is to remain as much of a resource as possible, rather than a governing or policing body. In that light, the "official" policy of the PGDA should be to remain neither explicitly for nor against certification. (Besides, we do not have the US$ half a million++ to jumpstart a project of that magnitude.)

Take the DESIGNER Survey
Take the CLIENT Survey
Survey results


PGDA - Professional Graphic Designer's Association

The Design Cartel forum is a privately owned and hosted forum dedicated to the discussion of graphic design and graphic industry issues. Individual postings represent the individual opinions of participants and do not neccessarily represent the views and/or opinions of the forum operators, sponsors or other participants. The forum is moderated by Design Cartel staff, who reserve the right to remove and/or delete any postings that are deemed racist, sexist, inappropriate, profane, harassing, defamatory or at odds with the general theme of this forum. The Design Cartel also reserves the right to reproduce any material posted to the forum in The Design Cartel advertising, promotional materials as well as in any future publications, e-mail newsletters or seminars. By utilizing this web site you agree to the Terms of Use. By using The Design Cartel forum you also agree to our Forum Rules.