Design{h}ers champions a range of female creatives all in one book

In light of International Women’s Day last Friday 8 March, our celebration of female designers continues in the form of the newly released book Design{h}ers. Published by the Hong Kong-based viction:ary, the publication sheds light on “the distinction and diversity that women bring to their respective fields.” With a cover story on design hero Jessica Walsh of Sagmeister & Walsh, the book ranges a breadth of design specification from advertising, illustration, packaging design and more.

Leanne Lee, a graphic designer at viction:ary tells It’s Nice That, “As a design book publishers of nearly 20 years, we’ve noticed a big gap in the bookshelves for a release like this for some time now.” Having worked with a number of talented women around the world, Leanne comments on how the company is “honoured to have featured some of the most inspiring people in the industry” and created the book in the hopes of showcasing even more.

Featuring some It’s Nice That favourites including Olimpia Zagnoli and Verònica Fuerte of Hey, as well as introducing us to some great designers that we hadn’t come across before, the book’s designers “made it a point to cover as many backgrounds, crafts and skills as possible.” With an overall aim to “encourage reader to always question the status quo and find the strength to push through the challenges that lie ahead, regardless of circumstance”, Design{h}ers inspires and champions the range of female creativity today.

Designed by an all-women team, the contents of the book embodies the designers’ differing tastes in one volume. “Each one of the team resonated with the featured designers for different reasons”, adds Leanne. While each team member professed to having their “preferred” chapters depending on aesthetic style at the start of the process, as the project progressed, the designers developed “a more personal” insight into the featured creatives as each interview “deepened [the] respect” for the creative in question.

When asked about what we can do to better support the minority women designers in the industry, Leanne goes on to say, “Echoing the sentiments of many of the designers in the book; total transformation does not take place overnight. Small steps are all it takes to create a ripple in the bigger community.” Jessica Walsh, for example, discusses how the “increase in freelancing opportunities has lowered the barriers for women to pursue a passion for design while simultaenously fulfilling different roles in their lives.” Citing Jessica’s social media channels, Ladies, Wine & Design, that helps connect female designers living in the same city, there are now a number of female-based initiatives encouraging the cause worldwide in the hopes of eradicating gender discrimination altogether one day.