Hey friends,
This month, on the 8th March, we celebrated International Women's Day.
As someone said in a masterclass, âwe donât celebrate being a woman one day, we do this everyday. Itâs just a shame the rest of the world has to be reminded about qualityâ.
Iâm usually the one to keep quiet about these topics in formal settings. But apparently this silence is contributing to some people thinking nothing's wrong, or unaware that in some countries and companies men are still being paid more or more likely to be promoted over women based on their gender.
So, for this newsletter here are six women or female owned companies influencing the design and creative industry that you can name next time a friend, colleague, business partner asks you. In doing this, Iâve been amazed by the achievements and hidden recognition of some women in this industry!
Willia Zwey
Willia is an inspiring digital artist and illustrator whose work has been featured in galleries, websites and events. Her Instagram and website are a great visual resource to enter a world full of nonconventional perspective, surreal elements and deep storytelling. Worth checking out if you want artistic inspiration.
Ayana Patterson
Ayana is a designer who helps companies craft the perfect colours, materials and finishes. She works with luxury brands and products focused primarily on the housewares and hospitality industries. So if you have a product idea targeting the luxury market - she may be your go-to.
Emma Walmsley
Emma is CEO of global healthcare company GlaxoSmithKline. While she may not have a âdesignerâ website, there is no doubt how her business mindset and leadership influences the design of worldwide healthcare products. She is a representative of the many C-suite women giving creativity and design a pathway for commercial success.
Katie Dill
Katie, is another example of women pushing the business value of creativity and design internally. She helped companies such as Airbnb and Lyft bring design thinking and innovation into their product ideas and organizations. Now as Head of Design at Stripe payments, she is proof of why businesses invest in design to increase their business value.
Rinat Aruh
Rinat, is the founder of Brand and Product design agency Aruliden. This is a good example for any of my non-designer subscribers of what âProduct Designâ is. They cover the whole beginning spectrum from innovation, to brand, to product.
Kate Moross (now known as 'Aries Moross')
Aries is an Art Director and founder of Studio Moross. Born as a female, she came out as a trans and non-binary a few years ago publicly and while continuing to grow her business and establish its presence within the music industry. Definitely one of the designers who are easy to find on Google!
OK, cool.....
So if you are one of the founder or business owner subscribers to this newsletter. You may be thinking. âOk, this is nice, but how does this help me?â In a nutshell, a lot of people who have new product ideas or are small business owners are non-designers. The problem is, most are unaware of the different ways âdesignâ can help add value to their ideas and or business.
Design is broad. It can be used to focus on the look and feel. Or to help lead the development of a product idea. Or it can be used to bring in innovative thinking into the business culture. So, I hope this helps you see that there is more than one way to leverage design to achieve success for your business or product idea.
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