world design day 2019: women in design

14.03.2019 ICoD news

With World Design Day approaching, ico-D seeks to highlight and honour women designers around the globe with this year's theme: Women in Design. As a lead-up to the celebration, we've created a Women in Design resource: a selection of women websites, articles, and groups to help broaden your design network.

Special Instagram Takeover

ico-D is very excited to announce that British design critic Alice Rawsthorn will be conducting a day-long instagram takeover on World Design Day Saturday, 27 April 2019.  Those familiar with Rawsthorn's instagram account will know that her posts are researched and full of rich details touching both design history and thought-provoking insights on the state of design going forward. Be sure to tune in to see what you can learn!

The Aiap Women in Design Award 2019

Founders of the AIAP Women in Design Award (AWDA) designers Cinzia Ferrara, Laura Moretti, and Daniela Piscitelli (far right) at AWDA Milan 2015.

The Aiap WOMEN IN DESIGN AWARD (AWDA) will also be launching the fourth iteration of the biennial award this year. A reaction to absence of female perspectives not only in the international award circuit but in the pages of the design history books, AWDA was created by ico-D Member Italian Association of Visual Communication Design (AIAP) in 2012. The award was originally developed by designers Laura Moretti, Cinzia Ferrara and (now ico-D Board Member) Daniela Piscitelli. The aim of the Award is to understand and promote the little-known universe of women working in visual communication design. In its first iterations the award went from being Italian, to becoming international.

For the 2019 edition of AWDA, ico-D has become an institutional partner of the event, with the purpose of further opening up the award to recognise women designers from our entire international network. The 2019 Call for Submissions will open any day now. Keep checking back on the  regularly!

AWDA Exhibition at Triennale Design Museum 2015

We hope that, in addition to the "Official" ico-D Events above, many of you will be inspired to prepare events and content relating to the theme "Women in Design" for World Design Day.

Here are some examples of 'Women in Design' events, topics and links that have caught our eye so far:

WOMEN IN DESIGN & NETWORKING
 

Above: Ladies, Wine & Design, Jessica Walsh
 

Whether you are looking to plan an event to get in touch with local women designers (see Jessica Walsh's event in New York below as an example) or are looking for content to enrich your discussions and improve your overall networking skills, here are a few leads:

• Ladies, Wine & Design, Jessica Walsh

• These are the four factors that make a company a great place for women, Fast Company

• , Design Week

• Canadian Women In Design, Canadian Women In Design

Above: Mind the Gap, Intern

Despite the many signs of progress in the journey towards gender equality, gender disparity is still prominent within creative industries, from the gender pay gap to the lack of diverse representation. Have a look at these articles and studies:

• Mind the Gap, Intern
• The Ladder, Gender Pay Gap: Part One, Intern
• We Surveyed Gender Equality at the World’s Biggest Design Conferences—and the Numbers Are In, AIGA Eye On Design

WOMEN WORKING IN CREATIVE INDUSTRIES

Above: Breaking Glass, Artsy

Listening to and reading about women working in creative industries, past and present, provides us with a better example of how women are making waves and initiating change in their own way:

• Breaking Glass, Artsy
• The Power of Saying No, AIGA Eye on Design
• Women's Rights Are Human Rights. Posters Dedicated to Women's Rights From The Collection of Elizabeth Resnick
• "Bauhaus histories tend to be disproportionately dominated by male protagonists", Dezeen
• Why Role Models Matter: Celebrating Women of Color in Design, AIGA Eye on Design

ico-D is also looking forward to seeing your contributions on our socials as we invite you to:

1. share your work on the topic of women in creative industries
2. showcase a project looking at women in the various fields of design
3. highlight a woman designer, organisation or studio who focus on or promote women in design

Twitter: tag @theicod #WDD2019
Facebook: join the World Design Day Group and post your stories
Instagram: tag @theicod #WDD2019

A special thanks to Peter Bankov for his continued contributions to World Design Day, and his design of this year's poster!