heridea.design : An Exploration of the Messy History of Women's Place in Graphic Design

Abstract

Thumb through a graphic design history book, or even search the internet for “most influential graphic designers” and find yourself asking: where are all the women designers? Graphic design’s history has been written to categorically exclude women from the profession. Though the industry is young and design history books did not exist until the 1980s, there has still been little effort to correct the gender imbalance in design history. The widely accepted writings of graphic design history favor men’s contributions and do little to nothing to acknowledge women’s roles in graphic design. This text analyzes graphic design’s written history, challenges the norms of its historiography, and brings forth an untold expanded herstory that serves as a foundation of an honest re-examination of women’s place in graphic design history.