The primary goal of this basic level design course is to give memorial retailers and their associates the correct ideas of proportion and composition in memorial art. As a result, the entire industry will be upgraded. By going through our certification program, memorialists will improve their personal sales and help create a greater public interest in memorialization, leading to a higher demand for monuments. 

As the course progresses, the student should acquire a feeling of what is pleasing to the eye. They will study design techniques and understand why some techniques and elements work better than others. The participant will not be expected to become an accomplished artist, but they should be able to assimilate ideas and put them together to form a sense of harmony.

The course will last 6 months and consists of 8 sections with multiple assignments. 

The 8 sections will focus on the following:

1. Simple Sketching

2. Proportion and Scale

3. Creativity

4. Letter Forms

5. Symbols and Ornamentation

6. Color and Texture

7. Designs from Nature

8. Creativity Final Test

The assignments will have various problems and exercises that will be directly applicable to our industry. The problems will be answered by the student and the answers should be sent to the proctor via email or FTP (file transfer protocol). Assignments should be scanned as either a JPEG or PDF at a minimum of 300 dpi (dots per inch).

The answers will be reviewed, graded, marked with corrections, and then it will be returned to the student. If the work is unsatisfactory, the student will be asked to repeat the assignment. The student will receive reference materials digitally upon applying for the course, and they will receive each section and assignment from their proctor as they are move forward in the course. To pass, participants must receive a minimum of a 70% in each section of the course.

Upon successfully completing the course, the student will receive a certificate signifying fulfillment of the Basic Memorial Design Course Requirements.

The cost for the Design Specialist Certificate Program is $300 per enrollee for MBNA members or employees of member firms. The fee is $600 for non-members of MBNA. All fees are payable in advance and should accompany the application upon its submission to MBNA. This course will fulfill your needs for a basic knowledge of design, composition, and proportion; therefore, helping you serve your customers more efficiently.

**MBNA members must log-in and access the member portal to receive member registration pricing.**