Anti Licensing
Insurgence of the Independents
Why then have millions of dollars been passed.
spent lobbying for regulation? It’s really
very simple. Choose your word: monop- ,
Until recently the outcome of this battle
oly, cartel, domination, control. ASID was thought to be a forgone conclusion.
wants it. But designers are not willing The “regulation is inevitable!” mantra
to give it. Interior design is a dynamic wove its insidious web into the design
Juxtapose Design
profession that celebrates innovation, community .
MORROW
.
creativity and diversity Regulation is
contrary to those values and antitheti- But the rhetoric and misleading infor-
PATTI
cal to a free market society. mation are being barraged by truth,
facts and statistics that belie the under-
Answering the outcry from the design lying premise for regulation. Indepen-
The proverbial line in the carpet has ,
community the Interior Design Protec- dent designers are excited, energized
been drawn, and a polarization of the tion Council (IDPC) emerged on the and expanding their army .
design community is emerging. Like battlefield to lead the charge for design
those oppressed in the past, indepen-
dent designers who reject one-size-
fits-all legislation are rising up to de-
Not a shred of evidence has ever been presented
fend their turf. to support a conclusion that the unregulated
What is at stake is one of the most basic
practice of interior design places the public in
freedoms afforded to U.S. citizens—the any form of jeopardy whatsoever.
right to earn an honest living. Virtually
all legislation proposed contains lan-
guage that would effectively put the
majority of hard-working designers freedom. IDPC, a nonprofit organiza- The momentum is definitely with the
out of business or prevent them from tion whose sole mission is to protect the resistance—banner of freedom held
calling themselves “interior designers” livelihoods and rights of designers, be- high and no combat fatigue in sight.
unless they possess certain arbitrary gan its campaign by launching its secret
credentials. Not coincidentally, these weapon: the independent designer. Surrender is just not an option. V
credentials are identical as those need-
ed to become a “professional” member The group’s strategy lies in educat- Patti Morrow is the principal of Juxta-
of the American Society of Interior De- ing, organizing and training designers pose Design in Concord, N.H.; executive
signers (ASID), the organization that on how to effectively resist regula- director of the Interior Design Protection
has spearheaded licensing for the past tion through grassroots opposition. ... Council (IDPCinfo.org); author of Get-
30 years. Armed with facts and statistics, IDPC ting Grassroots Galvanized; and adjunct
has intensified and impacted the fight. faculty member of the interior design
This is all done under the guise of “pro- program at the New Hampshire Institute
tecting the public.” Yet not a shred of And the success of this grassroots of Art. Reach her at pmorrow@IDPCinfo.
evidence has ever been presented to movement has been nothing short of org.
support a conclusion that the unregu- astounding! This year, despite an un-
lated practice of interior design places precedented lobbying campaign, 30
the public in any form of jeopardy bills to enact or expand licensing laws
whatsoever. have been defeated or derailed. Not
one single piece of new legislation has
WF-VISION.COM | NOV08 | 21