Fellows of Designer Bookbinder are elected by submission of work, and are considered to have achieved the highest standards in both design and technique. Fellows are the exhibiting members of the society. Licentiates are elected on submission of work which is deemed to display a potential in design and technique likely to commend them as candidates for election to Fellowship within five years. Their work may also be shown in the society's exhibitions. The society is constantly seeking new talent, and promising bookbinders are encouraged to apply for Licentiateship and then for Fellowship.
Associate membership is open to anyone interested in bookbinding.
Associates comprise the largest category of membership with about seven hundred Associates in twenty-eight countries, and with librarians, collectors, conservators, booksellers, teachers, amateur and professional bookbinders amongst that number. The objects of the society are to maintain and improve standards of design and technique in hand bookbinding, and to promote public interest in fine bookbinding. Designer Bookbinders pursues these aims by means of exhibitions, by the organisation of seminars, meetings, lectures and masterclasses, by publication of relevant books, periodicals and catalogues, and by the organisation of an annual bookbinding competition. Designer Bookbinders publishes a highly respected annual journal, The New Bookbinder , which is free to all members and which can be purchased to by non-members. Members also receive the quarterly DB Newsletter which contains news, business information, reviews, letters, advertisements, etc., and thus provides a forum for the free exchange of ideas, opinions and information which helps to foster a sense of involvement in a widely scattered membership.