When discussing female designers’ contribution to the heavily male-dominated creative industries, there’s a specific focus on the heralded historical figures and individuals known to have paved the way, think Margaret Calvert, who famously devised the street signage still used all over the country.
But whilst it’s important to be educated on the past, it's as important to look at the industry today, and at large - spotlighting the female-founded and female-led foundries on a global scale.
To celebrate International Women's Day (March 8) I sat down with a leading female creative to discuss her experiences as a women in agency life, how things have evolved and how much they still need to change.
Kerry Squires is Senior Brand Designer at Monotype in London, guiding and building on the brands visual voice. She has over 10 years of experience in the design and branding industry, where she has worked for prestigious organisations such as Apple Music, Condé Nast and Macmillan Publishers.
What inspired you to pursue a career in branding and design?
At school I was obsessed with both art and music and really hoped to pursue a career in one of those subjects, because I really couldn’t imagine doing anything else.
While studying art at school I discovered abstract-expressionism and started to paint typography A LOT (including on my childhood bedroom wall, sorry Dad) and then realised that combining type, colour and composition was a real-life career path I could try out and that Graphic Design existed! I was in awe of beautifully printed editorial design, MTV ads and record covers. Branding and design go hand-in-hand so it feels pretty organic that I ended up here.
Have you experienced any gender-related challenges along the way?
In my opinion, all women have experienced gender-related challenges, especially within their career. I absolutely have. These range from over-looked nuances such as male colleagues not being able to look me in the eye or take me seriously, to much bigger challenges such as the gender pay gap.
Even the perception of needing to always ‘be presentable’ and wear make-up as a female in the workplace is a gender-related challenge that feels exhausting. Gender-related challenges are still, sadly, everywhere.
As a female, what are the unique perspectives you bring to your work/ team?
I have thick skin but I also have emotional intelligence and empathy, which I believe are really important qualities. It’s important to mention that I don’t feel defined as unique by being female.
What steps can the industry take to encourage more female representation in brand, design and graphic arts?
Give females the exposure they deserve and the platforms to have a voice. Educate children on amazing female artists to study at school (we’re always told about the famous male artists).
Pay women fairly. Allow women flexibility when it comes to maternity leave and childcare. Take our opinions seriously. Please don’t make your brand pink in the hope that women will buy it. Do not stereotype.
Can you tell us about a female-led project, foundry or organisation that you admire and believe deserves more recognition?
Honestly, there’s so many! I’ll try and keep this concise. Sthuthi Ramesh comes to mind because we recently featured her beautiful visual identity for the South Asia Gallery in our annual Type Trends Report. She is wonderfully vocal about juggling motherhood and finding a family/work life balance within a creative career.
The cheerupluv platform created by photographer Eliza Hatch is an incredible community working really hard to raise awareness of the prevalence of misogyny and sexual assault in our daily lives. Polyester Zine, created by Ione Gamble, is an intersectional feminist fashion and culture publication aiming to bridge the gap of URL cyber feminism with the IRL world. I must stress that their podcast is amazing and I’m not a huge podcast fan.
In your experience, how has the perception of gender parity in the industry evolved over the years?
There’s certainly much more dialogue and awareness about gender parity now in comparison to 10 years ago, but it still feels like the industry has a long way to go. For example, despite conversations happening about the gender pay gap, it still doesn’t feel like there’s honesty or transparency and ultimately the gap itself is still huge.
I also feel that there’s still so many more barriers in place for women to reach leadership level roles in comparison to male counterparts. As much as the awareness and conversations happening around gender parity in the industry are progress, there’s still work to be done.
As we celebrate International Women’s Day, what message would you like to convey to young women considering a path in branding and graphic design?
Take up space and be courageous in trusting your instincts. Try to create work that feels authentic to YOU and resonates with your values, even if that means being offline for a while and seeking inspiration from elsewhere.
And most importantly, don’t ever feel silenced in the workplace because of your gender. If you do feel silenced, channel your voice through the work you create and the people you surround yourself with.
