Comments on: Where Are The Female Designers?

By: April Holle

April Holle — Mon, 19 Nov 2007 15:35:33 +0000

Thank you so much for this article! I personally am the only female in the production and development part of my company, and sometimes I wonder why. I am glad you’ve selected such an outstanding group of successful ladies to give their take on the situation. It’s nice to remember I’m not the only one out there!

By: Naomi

Naomi — Mon, 19 Nov 2007 16:43:49 +0000

Interesting interview. When I read ALA’s survey, I was actually surprised by the results. I’ve heard a few people say that a lot of women designers aren’t ALA readers because of the technical slant, but I don’t think that’s true. Maybe there really are few of us. Personally, I haven’t felt like being female affects my work as far as in the profession itself. On the business side of things, I have felt a few times it has. To be honest though, it’s just not something I’ve really thought about a lot. I don’t think of the client in terms of gender and I don’t get the impression they think of me that way either. Of course, that could be because I work mostly virtually and rarely see client’s face to face. Maybe that would create a different experience.

By: Dennis

Dennis — Mon, 19 Nov 2007 16:48:22 +0000

I’ve found that most female web designers I’ve met are primarily focused on the aesthetic and illustrative side of design rather the strategy and experience end. Do any of you see the same trends or is this an isolated case?

By: Matt Davies

Matt Davies — Mon, 19 Nov 2007 17:05:11 +0000

Dennis, from personal experience I would disagree with that. In regards to marketing I have come across quite a few females. In regards to more "design" I see a real gap. I’d agree though that illustration seems to have alot of females involved. These are all my personal opion though and I have no stats to back it up. If they are right though I wonder why females seem to go into these other areas but not into ‘pure’ graphic design?

What do you mean by "experience end"?

By: Mark

Mark — Mon, 19 Nov 2007 17:31:18 +0000

It’s "Veerle" with an L.

By: Dennis

Dennis — Mon, 19 Nov 2007 17:37:06 +0000

That’s good to hear. It might be primarily because of my geographic area and market.

By: Matt Davies

Matt Davies — Mon, 19 Nov 2007 17:50:10 +0000

Thanks Mark, I’ve corrected that now (ahem) - she didn’t even spot it!?

Dennis - maybe its mine? Who’s to say? Can anyone else add anything?

By: Lauren

Lauren — Mon, 19 Nov 2007 20:20:42 +0000

My belief is that there are many talented female designers today and from the past. The problem is that only a small portion have received widespread recognition. I recommend reading the last portion on a review of a recent lecture with Carin Goldberg. The Step article on women designers is great further reading

By: Anna Debenham

Anna Debenham — Mon, 19 Nov 2007 22:02:52 +0000

Once the ball gets rolling and more women get into the industry, the number of female web designers will increase. I think it’s a misconception that the industry isn’t female friendly, and as long as the women in web design get out there, we can inspire others to follow.

By: Amy

Amy — Tue, 20 Nov 2007 06:02:05 +0000

Being both a designer and a web developer, I don’t believe web development "scares" graphic designers. Designers, imo, would rather focus on the design itself and let someone else concentrate on the technical aspents of coding syntax. They care more about how typefaces contribute to a design rather than the syntax that alters the typeface. Web Development and Graphic Design are two completely different fields regardless of how complementery they can be to one another.Regarding "Is there a stigma associated with females within the industry?"… I have to say that there is a stigma in the field of design, but agree that it’s more self-imposed than forced upon the female gender. The host of my favorite design podcast suggests that females have to make more difficult decisions than men regarding their career such as whether or not to get married and have children. Yes, men have to make these decisions too, but society still assumes (granted this assumption is changing) them to work as they did before marriage and children and they are still able to perform at the same level. It is increasingly acceptable for women to wait longer for marriage and children (if at all) but, ultimately, it’s up to them to decide. And I’m not saying that married designers with children (as I fall into those two categories myself) will never be successful but you definitely cannot spend the same amount of time designing or scripting as a bachelor/bachelorette. And the experience you have with these things is what makes your skill grow regardless of what field.

By: Digiguru

Digiguru — Tue, 20 Nov 2007 08:20:14 +0000

In the early 2000’s I was a lecturer at a new media college and the female to male ratio was much higer. There were only a handful of guys in each class. What I noticed though is that the ladies had more going on in there personal lives and did not throw themselves into there work outside of college like the guys did. Of the corporate students we had, they were also mostly females from advertising companies who were trying to better understand web development. But I hardly hear of any of them doing this sort of thing.Most of the female students seem to have remained focus on illustration and graphic design and very few have continued to grow within the development field.Please don’t get me wrong, this is a very general attempt to explain what I have experienced and noticed. I do hope more woman grace our industry with there presence and objective view on design. I think the industry can be somewhat hard headed and tough and could really use a womans touch. All the ladies who were interviewed clearly have something that every great designer & developer who has ever stood out has, dedication, passion and the ability to work hard and never stop learning. Much respect to you all, you inspire me as I’m sure many men and hopefully in the future, alot more woman.

By: Matt Davies

Matt Davies — Tue, 20 Nov 2007 09:19:16 +0000

@ amy, I see your point - I suspect on another level employers (who shouldn't consider this by the way but it might play a part) may be more likely to hire a male designer than a female in case she gets pregnant. Personally I have no experience of this actually happening but I wonder if anyone else has.

I also fall between graphic and web design and I take your point they are two separate skill-sets. This article covers both in a way as they do overlap somewhat.

@ Digiguru - Do you think it has anything to do with males being naturally competitive - are men more competitive then females and therefore in a competitive industry like web-design and graphic design?

By: Ashish Lohorung Rai

Ashish Lohorung Rai — Tue, 20 Nov 2007 11:05:56 +0000

It the natural fact that the like and dislike of boys and girls are different. As an example a small baby boy who doesn’t know anything at all is attracted to play with a toy gun whereas a baby girl of the same age is attracted to play with baby dolls and flowers. Females are the symbol of care and love wheres men are interested more in destruction for the sake of getting to the top. I exaclty don’t know the reason of female inferirotiy in the web design business but i am certain that the above difference of like and dislike has to do with this stuff. Most video and PC games are built to kill enemies, murder the opponent, fight and fight until you win. So killing, fighting, and quarrel are the things that had never attracted women. It is the business of men generally. So I mean to say that these kind of things have some links with the issue that why female are very less in the web design or computer industry. Nice posting …thank you

By: Rose

Rose — Tue, 20 Nov 2007 15:57:11 +0000

I am both a coder and a designer, and while I do see less females working in backend web development, at a major Chicago design agency I worked at 9 out of 10 designers were female, and extremely talented. They simply didn’t care for fame, which is why they are less well-known despite having worked on designs for Motorola, Bluetooth, etc.

By: aliotsy

aliotsy — Tue, 20 Nov 2007 17:58:08 +0000

Two immediate thoughts:1.It seemed to be a bit of an oversight in an article about the lack of female designers that you refer to "the guys at A List Apart." ALA’s editor Erin Kissane is female, as are two others listed as ALA 4.0 Crew. 2. This is anecdotal and perhaps not relevant, but I knew a number of very talented female web designers while in college four or five years ago, who crafted some exquisite blog designs. In fact, I knew many more female web designers than males, so it seemed a bit odd to me that once I entered the professional world, many more web professionals were male instead of female. As it turns out, most of the female designers I knew had moved on from web design to other fields, including medicine and psychology. Seemed interesting to me that female designers who certainly had the skills to "make it" in web design ultimately chose other fields.

By: Jason

Jason — Tue, 20 Nov 2007 23:18:02 +0000

Everywhere I have worked for the past ten years there has always been more female designers than male with almost a 2-1 ratio. I know a lot of female designers doing print design, but I will say that there are a very few female web designers. I don’t know why. I know of quite a few designers that are resisting the adoption of web design into the graphic design fold and just sticking to print design. Maybe it’s all the coding that turns people off. I personally don’t care for that aspect of web design. I never got off on doing PHP or javascript. I don’t mind having to do ActionScript because I love Flash so much.

By: Digiguru

Digiguru — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 06:30:45 +0000

Matt Davies - I’m not sure that it would be correct to say that men are more competitive than woman. My own wife is very competitive at most things where as I don’t care about competition much at all. Ofcourse I’m not speaking for everyone, I know men are very competitive in general, but I don’t think thats it.

By: Matt Davies

Matt Davies — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 14:16:59 +0000

@ aliotsy, when I say guys I take that to mean "people". I meant no disrespect to any of the females on ALA and I agree the term was inappropriate. My apologies. Out of interested why do you think your female friends decided design was not for them?

By: kelly

kelly — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 17:43:10 +0000

As a female web designer and developer, I hear you. I think it has to do entirely with the male ‘computer geek’ stigma. Most girls I knew growing up that were ‘geeks’ were English geeks, or music geeks. In my high school, I was the only girl in grade 12 and grade 13 computer class.

By: aliotsy

aliotsy — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 20:25:23 +0000

@Matt: I really don’t know. Pretty consistently, they’ve also entered academically-rigorous fields — one’s a medical student; another worked in autism research.

By: kemar90@yahoo.com

kemar90@yahoo.com — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 21:38:24 +0000

Well, I can honestly say that I haven’t seen alot of females in the Art industry particularly as a webdesigner (of which I practice my profession). The thing the trend will be changing where females will be present. This is high tech age. It just takes a passion and love for the field. However, I must add that it would be nice if a survey of African-American people in the web design industry. To my experience and knowledge there are not many black folks in the company. I worked in the United States, and I can state that I have only come upon a 2 black people in the Web design field. Where are they? PLEASE DO THIS IS YOU CAN!

By: Johan

Johan — Thu, 22 Nov 2007 00:17:56 +0000

Graphic Designers have equal numbers in gender, though web design could be more of a divide. For me, this discussion is rather pointless since it is just your opinion. For anyone else that works in a design team, it could be the opposite what you might think. One thing I agree on,advertising/communication/ is still male chauvenist by any means. But I like to stress that many females are graphic designers …

By: Johan

Johan — Thu, 22 Nov 2007 00:20:34 +0000

Added websites are made by IT people as well, and IT is still a lot more men and less women. Though in general, females will outnumber men soon when you consider higher educated people in any field.

By: arturo

arturo — Thu, 22 Nov 2007 16:40:17 +0000

In my personal experience ive seen designer girls who have more touch when designing a website. That is something that comes naturally and we men dont have this ability, at least not as developed, unless your gay or something, anyway I dont think there is a stigma in industry on the contrary, more and more womens are coming into and they are welcome, I would certainly accept more women in my office, we are ten males and one girl, that is unfair competition, isnt it?

By: Martin

Martin — Thu, 22 Nov 2007 17:54:02 +0000

This is an interesting discussion - and a point was alluded to in the answers to the questions above - but could be looked at a little deeper: Not only are there less women in web design (though the concept they may not be looking for the fame may have some part to play) the fact that there also seem to be more men involved with video games than women, or why do more men read comic books? Or potentially more men will watch cartoons before a woman does? I think it has to do with Men are generally more "Visually Oriented" and women are more "Auditory Oriented". Of course this isn’t true in all cases, but for the most part (and I believe there’s evidence to back this up- though I don’t have any on hand other than my personal observations) Men are visual creatures. When dating the man likes what he sees. The woman likes what she hears - So maybe some of this "Visual" reaction carries over to the world of web-design. The other side of it is men love to play with technology - or the latest and greatest new toy (car, tank, product) and break it. If it breaks they then want to fix it. So men are willing to generally play with their software, force it to do things and try to repair or re-configure it. Women, (again general observation from the ones I know), tend to be more prone to wanting something to just work. I have sisters who have used computers for more than 10 years - and they still don’t know how to download a file from a disc to their computer - or are scared half the time that their going to break something, or screw something up on the computer. Also, their interest levels in computer/video game/comic/visual tends to be lower over-all.Could be a part of the issue. Maybe all hooey.

By: Andrew

Andrew — Sun, 25 Nov 2007 02:17:18 +0000

I’d stress the point made in different comments that good web design is equal parts aesthetics and technique. Even if one could prove the stereotype that women thrive in the aesthetic side of web design and men in the technical side, good web designers by definition have to do well in both.

By: Johan

Johan — Sun, 25 Nov 2007 19:33:03 +0000

It is stereo type thining that leads to jumping to that sort of conclusions. Scientifically, we have visual and auditive people; The leftbrain and the rightbrain, and that just has nothing to do with gender. Any other assumptions that gender might play a role is probably cultural.

By: Matt Davies

Matt Davies — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 12:16:22 +0000

So what are you saying then? That it’s our culture that allows men to dominate the web design industry?

By: Martyn

Martyn — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 14:12:08 +0000

I have used three freelance designers this year, all female, one in Texas, one in the UK and one in South Africa and all of them found through elance.com. I didn’t think about gender when reviewing their portfolios and considering their comments on each project. If women make up such a small percentage of the designer work-force then men have a lot of work to do if they want to compete methinks.

By: Johan

Johan — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 22:28:42 +0000

So what are you saying then? That it’s our culture that allows men to dominate the web design industry?It is not that simple … IT could be regarded a male dominated world, male employers might choose their employees based on prejudice. It starts when people say a woman/man designs stuff in a different way, that’s where the malconception starts. Gender should never play a role.Even when the lack of female designers can be explained, it does not matter. Female artists like graphic designers are more like a mayority, maybe in time it will level out.

By: Grace Smith

Grace Smith — Sat, 01 Dec 2007 21:23:18 +0000

I was really surprised with the results, even during my Interactive Multimedia Design course at Uni there were actually more females than males, i also know of alot of females within software and programming end of the IT industry so the ALA results are definitely a shock.Personally I have never experienced any kind of sexism as with Veerle quite the opposite! As a web designer i am as comfortable in Photoshop and Illustrator as i am with CSS and PHP so i disagree with the point being made within the comments that most female designers are primarily focused on the asthetics and not the technical aspects. Still interesting discussion.

By: Amy

Amy — Sun, 02 Dec 2007 18:46:05 +0000

@Matt - I too have considered that some employers may feel the same way about hiring women but only if the female candidate was far along enough in a pregnancy to be showing. If I were an employer, I would definitely be discouraged to hire the person because my first thought would be "she’s new here and will ask for maternity leave a few months/weeks from now." And naturally that time needed would vary from female to female but an obvious concern of an employer. Her resume could validate her work ethic and skill, but I still imagine the employer would ask her to reapply after the pregnancy was completed and she was able to work again. Then it might be too late to gain that particular position.

By: Billy

Billy — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 03:35:05 +0000

I’m surprised nobody has addressed Ashish’s post: "Females are the symbol of care and love wheres men are interested more in destruction for the sake of getting to the top." Ouch.The book Cryptonomicon had an interesting theory. Something about guys (testosterone or a wish to stop thinking about girls) causes them to favour obsessive forms of work (the example being studying a single species of beetle for decades) whereas girls are more balanced. This means guys are more prone to specialized, technical work. Obsession is a way to channel pent up energy. Maybe Ashish is right…I think it probably stems from a need to belong to a group when you’re younger. It’s easier for a boy to find a group of computer geeks to hang out with (remember when you were 12 or 13, groups tended to be single sex). It’s kinda chicken and eggy.As for why guys are more likely web designers: up until recently it was quite the technical feat to get yourself a web site. If guys are more likely to be technical, as most commenters seem to agree, then the current stock of web designers will more likely be guys. But, as has been said, now that there are more vectors for entering web design, I bet we will see more girls.

By: Refresh Recap: ALA Web Design Survey | E-Visions of Creativity

Refresh Recap: ALA Web Design Survey | E-Visions of Creativity — Wed, 05 Dec 2007 05:46:02 +0000

[…] of web workers polled were female. Why is it that females are not prevalent in our industry? Check out a great set of interviews by fadtastic, where they contacted several of the industry’s leading female web designers to ask them the […]

By: Meet the CSSPrincess » Interview: Tanya Merone

Meet the CSSPrincess » Interview: Tanya Merone — Sun, 03 Feb 2008 01:15:27 +0000

[…] speculated for the gender gap in the industry, and you can read more about my take on the topic here. But I don’t think gender stands in the way of good design – it’s all based on vision, […]

By: Eliza

Eliza — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 19:35:09 +0000

I’m a female in the computer science industry, though not in design. Males have always been more prominent with computers, but I always thought that this had more to do with sub-culture and entertainment trends. For instance, when I was getting my bachelor’s degree in computer science, most of the people in my classes had been inspired by the game industry. They loved video games. They wanted to make them for a living. The computer classes are solitary, logical, involve late-nights with cans of soda and liberal doses of Monty Python and video game quotes. Though I don’t think that this is beyond most females, girls that I know tend to be more social, less likely to enjoy this sort of activity. These inclinations and hobbies define the sub-cultures. In fact, when I talk about my experience in school and my major, girls (and especially older women) usually go wide-eyed and say, ‘wow, you must be smart’, which never failed to boggle me. I do this because I enjoy it (and because I’m a hermit with no life).But the computer industry itself is very receptive to females in my experience. You’re more likely to be laughed at for your choice of languages that you code in than your gender (or possibly treated a little awkwardly simply because the stereotype of the dateless nerd does have a basis in reality). If computing (or design) is what you love, then the doors are open for anyone. Call it a social trend, or a lack of encouragment in some areas, but I’d never feel cheated or offended by the statistics.

By: Sarah

Sarah — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 16:44:11 +0000

hi, im studying graphic design at college in sheffield, and for one of my briefs i am creating a presentation on female graphic designers. Only problem is… I am having great difficulty finding any info. Why is this?

By: 7 Inspirational Female Graphic Designers

7 Inspirational Female Graphic Designers — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 11:06:52 +0000

[…] note: For some further reading check out this great discussion / article… Where Are All The Female Designers? or maybe check out the controversial article where Milton Glaser states that “Women will never […]

By: 7 Female Graphic Designers That’ll Rock Your Socks Off | Dalton Trent's Blog

Tue, 15 Jul 2008 01:44:20 +0000

By: 7 female graphic designer That’ll rock its socks way | Dalton Trent's Blog

Tue, 15 Jul 2008 02:14:24 +0000

By: Wanda

Wanda — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 18:51:57 +0000

I have been in the industry since I was 19 when there were not many women in the industry in Canada. I have worked as a designer/art director/creative director/illustrator for over 32 years both in Canada and the US. I have taught on a collegiate level, and mentored many interns. Often it has been an uphill battle as well as reinventing myself in many cities because of travel as well as taking time off to have 2 kids after the age of 34 and having to start from scratch twice after their birth. I have seen many talented women be outshined by men in the field, I have seen women have to take on the mistakes of young upstart (male) designers who would lie and blame the women and they would take it so that they would not loose their jobs. I have encountered sexism and still do. No amtter what anyone says. It is unfortunate and I still hear people say that there is equality. Many women in the field are underpaid compared to men and as freelancers are paid less. I have had to step down many times so that I would not be considered a bitch when I should have believed in my design instincts and stood my ground. I have had clients be leeches and I have had to be diplomatic so that our office would not loose a client I have also met many highly talented women who do stand their ground, are highly intelligent and do incredible design but are not well liked. I have also encountered those who are magical and are born diplomats. Many have lost their entire careers when they reported their bosses when they assaulted them.Many of them have had to back down for the sake of their husbands careers or their responsibilities as mothers. I have seen male designers have total support in developing their careers, by their wives working and supporting their families. I have rarely seen that for women. They are often expected to do it all. If they have this support then they are often highly successful. I can say this from years of experience. There are a lot of women in the design work force and they are amazing, they are cheerful, overworked and often their boss (the male designer) takes the credit for their research and hard work. Many large corporations have pools of women designers and the men are the managers. They do their job and have no recognition.Yes I have a love for my field but know that it is hard work and you must love it and often swallow your pride. That is why at the age of 52 I have not given up and still get excited by great design and have not become a real estate agent like some of my friends….

By: Women web designers? at Wedding Stationery, Album Designs and Photography by Chamelle Designs - Blog

Mon, 25 Aug 2008 05:48:09 +0000

[…] 5. Fadtastic - Where Are The Female Designers? […]

By: Katie Hovland

Katie Hovland — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 16:41:12 +0000

There are a lot of different position that fall under design, but I think you will find more males in web and interactive design and more females in the print design industry. I believe it is personal preference. I used to work for Mimoco, Inc. where the design team was me and Lillian Chan. Two female designers who did everything related to design and Illustration for the company. My design school (The New England Institute of Art) had mostly female designers in my department. (I studied graphic design) In 10 years I believe there will be more women in graphic design than men.

By: Selina

Selina — Sat, 16 May 2009 02:36:29 +0000

I’ve had some graphics done by ellybeandesigns and she is FABULOUS. http://www.ellybeandesigns.weebly.com

By: Pol13

Pol13 — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 12:32:26 +0000

Choose examples of spelling correspondences, patterns, rules, and exceptions. ,