Since LRM Interior Design just won two Orange County ASID awards, we’ve been pondering on why we’re so excited about winning. This was the first time that LRM Interior Design had entered into a design competition, and to win the first time out seemed extra special, somehow.

Also pondering on this theme was ASID president Bruce J. Brigham. His President’s Letter in the July/August 2009 issue of ASID ICON sums up everything about awards, and says it better than we could. So why reinvent the wheel?

(We have reproduced it here since it is not available online.)

Awards: Beyond the Beauty Contest

This is our second annual design awards issue of ASID ICON, so I thought it might be an appropriate time to discuss the subject of giving out awards.

In his book, The Power of Design, Richard Farson contends that awards are self-serving and don’t really advance practice. I, for one, believe ASID should give out awards, because celebrating extraordinary design work is what ASID should be all about. As a professional Society, we work to accomplish so much every day for the profession and for our members: advocacy, continuing education, networking and more. But what we sometimes forget to do is celebrate pure design. (read the rest of this post…)