International Council of Design

What International Council of Design does

The International Council of Design (ICoD) is a global non-profit membership organization founded in 1963 (rebranded from Icograda in 2015) that functions as the unified representative body for the international design community. Headquartered in Montréal, Québec, Canada and relocating to Vilnius, Lithuania in 2026, ICoD serves professional design associations, educational institutions, and promotional organizations across Africa, the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia-Pacific through three membership tiers (Professional, Educational, and Promotional) plus affiliate, corresponding entity, and lifetime friend categories.

ICoD's core offerings are not technology products but a membership services portfolio: a searchable global member directory and map, a content and publications archive (including the Icograda Design Education Manifesto, World Design Survey, Montréal Design Declaration, Professional Code of Conduct, Indigenous Design Charter, and Best Practice papers), convening infrastructure for Council Meetings (Platform, Regional, and Special), the International Design Media Network (IDMN), the Women in Design (AWDA) initiative, International Design Day, a Career Centre, and the Design Declaration policy platform. The organization does not develop proprietary technology; its platform layer is a conventional website at theicod.org.

ICoD monetizes through recurring membership dues across its tiered membership categories and through program/event activity. Its governance model comprises an Executive Board and a 13-person Secretariat. Strategic standing is anchored by affiliate relationships with UNESCO (flagship tier), WIPO, UNIDO, ISO, and a network of discipline-specific design federations including AGI, ATypI, BEDA, Cumulus, DMI, IFI, ISTD, and WDO. Revenue figures are not publicly disclosed.

Name

International Council of Design

Legal name

International Council of Design

Website

https://theicod.org

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

International Council of Design (ICoD) is a global non-profit membership organization serving as the unified voice for the design profession, connecting professional associations, educational institutions, and promotional bodies across 30+ countries through tiered memberships, council meetings, publications, and convening initiatives.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Montréal

HQ country

Canada

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure, Others

Revenue model

1. Membership Fees: ICoD generates revenue through membership fees from professional design associations, educational institutions, promotional organizations, and affiliates. The organization offers different membership tiers including Professional Members, Educational Members, and Promotional Members.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

The International Council of Design (ICoD) is a global nonprofit membership organization that connects professional design associations, educational institutions, and promotional organizations across multiple regions. It offers Professional, Educational, and Promotional membership tiers, provides a Code of Conduct and professional standards resources, publishes design education manifestos and research, and runs Council meetings, International Design Day, and Women in Design (AWDA) initiatives.

Product overview

The International Council of Design (ICoD) is a global membership organization serving as a unified voice for the design community, rather than a software product company. Its core offerings consist of a membership network platform connecting design organizations, educational institutions, promotional bodies, and professional associations across multiple regions worldwide. The organization provides professional resources including a Code of Conduct, Best Practice papers, and publications such as the Icograda Design Education Manifesto and World Design Survey reports. Additional services include council meeting facilitation, regional networking events, the International Design Media Network (IDMN), Women in Design (AWDA) initiative, International Design Day activities, and the Design Declaration program. The organization also maintains a Career Centre, meeting reports repository, and Indigenous Design Charter. These offerings collectively serve to drive high-level dialogue about design's role in society, culture, and the economy rather than offering commercial software products.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Professional Membership Membership tier for professional design associations, institutes, and bodies worldwide, providing unified voice representation and access to ICoD's global network.
• Educational Membership Membership tier for universities, colleges, and institutes offering design education programs at undergraduate and postgraduate levels.
• Promotional Membership Membership tier for design weeks, design centers, and government design promotion agencies focused on promoting design culture.
• Quarterly Newsletter Quarterly digital publication distributed to members and subscribers, providing snapshots of Council activities, design affairs, member features, meeting reports, and professional best-practice updates.
• Council Meetings Platform Meetings, Regional Meetings, and Special Meetings that convene member design organizations for inter-organizational collaboration, dialogue, and decision-making.
• International Design Day Annual global observance celebrating and promoting design's role in society, culture, and the economy.
• Women in Design (AWDA) Program recognizing and promoting women's contributions to design through awards and advocacy initiatives.

Quantifiable outcome

• Global reach across Africa, North America, Latin America, Europe, Middle East, Asia, ASEAN, India, China, and Oceania

Named customers7 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

18 partnerships are on record, tiered core affiliate, regional affiliate, flagship partner and strategic partner.

• Alliance Graphique Internationale (AGI)core affiliateOthersICoD affiliate - international alliance of graphic design professionals
• Association Typographique Internationale (ATypI)core affiliateOthersICoD affiliate - international association focused on typography
• Bureau of European Design Associations (BEDA)core affiliateOthersICoD affiliate - European design associations network
• Design Alliance Asia (tDA Asia)regional affiliateOthersICoD affiliate - Asian design alliance
• Design Management Institute (DMI)core affiliateOthersICoD affiliate - organization focused on design management
• EIDD - Design for All Europecore affiliateOthersICoD affiliate - European design for all organization
• International Association of Universities and Colleges of Art, Design and Media (Cumulus)core affiliateOthersICoD affiliate - leading global association of art, design, and media education institutions
• International Federation of Interior Architects/Designers (IFI)core affiliateOthersICoD affiliate - world federation of interior architects/designers
• International Institute for Information Designcore affiliateOthersICoD affiliate - international information design institute
• International Society of Typographic Designers (ISTD Ltd)core affiliateOthersICoD affiliate - international typographic designers society
• UNESCOflagship partnerOthersICoD affiliate - United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
• UNIDOcore affiliateOthersICoD affiliate - United Nations Industrial Development Organization
• World Design Organization (WDO)core affiliateOthersICoD affiliate - international design organization
• World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO)core affiliateOthersICoD affiliate - UN agency for intellectual property
• Pan-Afrikan Design Institute (PADI)regional affiliateOthersICoD affiliate - Pan-African design institute
• Women Designers' Forumcore affiliateOthersICoD affiliate - forum for women in design
• International Organization for Standardization (ISO)core affiliateOthersICoD affiliate - international standards organization
• Image & Text Journalstrategic partnerStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaboration partner for Call for Papers special section 'Prompt, Generate, Iterate: Design Practice and New Technologies' to be published in 2027

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Cumulus Association: International association of universities and colleges of art, design, and media; listed as an ICoD affiliate and serves a closely overlapping educational membership base.
• Design Management Institute (DMI): Global non-profit focused on design as a strategic management discipline; explicitly listed as an ICoD affiliate and operates overlapping membership, events, and research programs.
• D&AD: UK-based international non-profit running the D&AD Awards and professional development for the creative and design community; comparable member-based professional design body with award and education programming.
• World Design Organization (WDO): Montreal-based international non-profit advancing industrial and broader design; named ICoD affiliate and the closest direct peer, serving overlapping global design constituencies with parallel membership and World Design Summit programming.
• AIGA (American Institute of Graphic Arts): U.S. professional association for design with chapters such as AIGA San Diego Tijuana (an ICoD member). AIGA plays a comparable role as a national-level professional design body that ICoD aggregates at the international level.
• International Federation of Interior Architects/Designers (IFI): World federation for interior architecture/design; ICoD affiliate that operates in the same global professional-association model, providing a discipline-specific peer comparison.
• Bureau of European Design Associations (BEDA): European federation of design associations listed as an ICoD affiliate; provides a regional-layer peer comparison for ICoD's European advocacy and convening activities.

Broad incumbents

• Design Council (UK): Established national design body operating government-adjacent policy and advocacy programs; a broader incumbent in design promotion that parallels ICoD's remit but with national rather than global scope.

Emerging players

• Society for Experiential Graphic Design (SEGD): International multidisciplinary organization for professionals who design user-centered experiences; member-based body analogous to ICoD in scope but focused on the experiential/environmental design niche.
• Interaction Design Association (IxDA): Global network of interaction and UX designers with local chapters, conferences, and education programming; competing member network for the same design professional demographic, though narrower in discipline.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/theicod

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about International Council of Design