RSA and CSD awards confusion gets cleared up

It is quite understandable that you were confused in respect of the awards offered by the Royal Society of Arts and those of the Chartered Society of Designers (DW 23 February).

The RSA does run an award for students, but it is called Future Directions, which should not be confused with the CSD Annual Student Awards, open to all second-year students worldwide, and for which the deadline this year is 31 March. However, to my knowledge and following enquiries to the RSA, it does not bestow the CSD medal annually. The society does award a CSD medal, which is known as the Minerva Medal, for a lifetime achievement in design. It was last bestowed in 2003 on our Patron, HRH The Duke of Edinburgh, who has devoted almost half a century to the profession. This year, the medal will be awarded on 3 May at the Minerva Dinner, to be held at St James’s Palace.

For the benefit of students, I hope you will point out the confusion and refer them to our website: www.csd.org.uk.

Frank Peters, Chief executive, Chartered Society of Designers, London SE1