Equal pay. Equal representation. Equal opportunity.
Story By ceros originals Design by OLIVIA BROWN
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Story By ceros originals Design by tri vo
Think these are givens of the professional design world? Think again. In some ways, design in 2020 is still in the dark ages. Just how dark? Come along and find out.
INEQUALITY BY DESIGN
PERCENT OF DESIGNERS ARE WOMEN.
25
37
53
Data by: AIGA
PERCENT OF CREATIVE DIRECTORS ARE WOMEN.
3
11
22
Data by: The Three Percent Movement
ABBEY KUSTER-PROKELL
Creative Director at Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia
You’re kidding, right? We have to talk to someone about this. Any female creative directors out there who can help shed some light?
That’s it? 11%?
"Over the course of my career, I’ve made a conscious effort to only work for strong, uber-talented women. Of the 8 jobs I’ve held in 20+ years, I’ve only worked for 2 male CDs. In most of these roles, I didn’t make as much as some of my friends, but I valued the experience more. Not to discredit my time with male CDs, but it’s the female CDs who have helped to shape not only my career, but who I am."
"I think male cultural domination has done a great job in restraining women's ambitions outside restricted areas. Women were simply not considered capable of holding certain leadership roles either for reason of gender, body and mind weakness, or simply lack of talent for certain commanding roles. It's been very manipulative."
"Men (yeah yeah yeah, not *all* men, but that's not my point right now) are often intimidated by women with power and women with strong voices and opinions, which means in the hiring process, they are more likely to choose someone who is more agreeable with them and share similar values. This candidate often ends up being another man, making it nearly impossible for women to climb career ladders all the way to the top."
the value of experience
betti iannucci
VP of Design at Bloomingdale's
cultural domination
sydney wisner
Runs the Portland chapter of Ladies, Wine, & Design
fear of strong women
With 89% of teams being led by men, how can we expect content to accurately represent women – the ones who are the largest influencers of spending and media sharing?
Women influence upwards of ____ of consumer spending.
and ____ of social media sharing.
60%
45%
80%
Data by: New York Minute Mag
"Who knows how to better market to women than women? If companies really want to be setting themselves up for success, they would be putting more relatable people in leadership positions. An inspiring company to me is Bumble: a woman-founded company that puts women first by putting online dating in their hands. The app goes above and beyond to make dating a safe space for women. Do you think those values would have been installed if Bumble was run by a man? No, it would be another Tinder."
"When I see advertising that truly breaks the mold and embraces representation in an authentic way, I spread that like wildfire. You’ll see it on my Slack, Facebook, Instagram story. As someone who sees how the numbers are gauged and how the creative ideas come to fruition into ads and storytelling, I do my best to help make these campaigns successful because I want to see them more."
So even though women make 80% of consumer spending decisions, they only represent 10% of the people making the creative decisions?
Hmmmm...
Phoenix dawn
Graphic Designer at Watson Creative
breaking the mold
Runs the Portland chapter of Ladies, Wine, and Design
not another tinder
phoenix dawn
Can you guess how much the typical woman working as a designer makes per year?
How about the typical male designer?
$44,564
$60,944
Data by: Coloradoan
The typical woman working as a designer earns $44,564 a year, just 73 percent of the median income of $60,944 among men in the profession.
"I think women are conditioned not to ask for more–that it would seem greedy or presumptuous. My friends in the industry and I are all incredibly open with each other about our experiences asking for raises or title changes and it's helped me be so much more comfortable advocating for myself. You're your best advocate, you can't trust that anyone else will go to bat for you."
meg vazquez
Creative Director at Splice.com
demand generation
"It is so disheartening (and enraging) to think that our work, our process, our ideas, our inspiration and every other thing we give to our work is worth less just because of our gender alone."
Senior Art Director at Swift Agency
less is less
We’re not naive, but how is that large a pay gap still possible? Can any of these smart women designers help us understand—and if can’t be explained, can we just get pissed off about it?
This is true in 2019?
"Had this been information that was available to me when I was first looking to go into graphic design, it certainly would have affected the choice I made. As a fine artist, I have already been facing the bias of male creativity being more highly valued. It wouldn’t scare me off. But it does encourage me to be tenacious and to try and emulate male confidence."
try and scare me off
Claire Fraze
Creative Director at Splice
CLAIRE FRAZE
Studies show
Many women won’t apply for a position unless they meet what percent of the criteria?
65%
85%
100%
While men will apply with just 50%.
Data by: The Guardian
“I’ve been afraid to ‘throw my hat in the ring’ because I’m afraid to fail. But I have since learned that it is a positive thing to accept a job that makes you really uncomfortable (skill set wise), because it means you will work that much harder to prove to yourself that you can do it and a lot of personal growth will come out of it.”
abbey kuster-prokell
get uncomfortable
"I think it’s an advantage to 100% meet the criteria. That’s the long game. Frauds are exposed, one way or another. True confidence comes from deep preparation, investment, research, and refinement. True confidence is earned. It can’t be faked. Anything less is bad business. And bad businesses eventually sink."
angi arrington
Creative Director at Watson Creative
the long game
“Culturally-induced lack of confidence. Men seem to grasp for more even if their reach is not so broad. They try. Women tend to be more constrained in their thinking. It's an attitude. Which one is right? I think there is learning to do on both sides. Many people get the job and many fail the role so hardly fought for.”
the confidence game
Women get paid less for the same work and get hired less often for leadership positions, even though they make the majority of consumer decisions. Now you’re going to say there’s nothing we can do about it? Uh, no. In fact, it’s up to us to step up.
So, let's recap.
“I think it again comes down to societal conditioning. Women and people of color have to work so much harder than the next person to be seen as competent. Because of this I think we're less likely to apply for positions that we might not think we're a perfect match for. I remind myself that I should always be punching above my weight class because the person before or after me is definitely doing the same.”
punching up
CD in Publishing at Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia
70%
What percent of young female creatives say they have never worked under a female creative director?
50%
95%
of young female creatives say they have never worked under a female creative director.
“I've been incredibly lucky to have had some exceptional female mentors (including my mom!). I had a professor in art school who pushed me to find my voice and to trust that I could succeed when others told me my chances were slim. I was incredibly lucky to have worked with Jennifer Kinon (from The Original Champions of Design) while on Hillary Clinton's 2016 presidential campaign. I learned so much from her in terms of leadership and process.”
MEG VAzQUEz
EXCEPTIONAL MENTORS
claire fraze
"I was a decade into my career before ever experiencing female leadership. When I was finally lucky enough to work under an incredible female CD, my self-confidence and growth just skyrocketed. She challenged me as much as she encouraged me and took the time to figure out what motivated me in a way I had not experienced previously. I consider that time a turning point in my career."
CHALLENGE = GROWTH
Does it really matter if your CD is male or female? After all, your boss might never be your favorite person in the world. So does it make a difference if they look like you?
It does.
But why?
exceptional mentors
challenge = growth
So what now...?
At the end of the day, I don’t think women do themselves any favors trying to be more like men. I say double down on being a woman.
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