Women Designers and Computer Arts

So whilst I was on holiday last week I read a brilliant article in one of the magazines I have subscribed to recently Computer Arts. 

The article was about women working in the Graphic Design industry and went on to describe an instance when a woman designer felt alienated from her work simply because of her gender, and this got me thinking. Should we be surprised if we walk into an Design studio and see a team full of women? I think the answer is absolutely not. If you walked into a mine or a war zone I would say that it's definitely not a place for a woman to be however, some of the most creative people I've ever met have been female. 

Graphic Design shouldn't be an industry that should be defined by age, height, gender, skin colour etc. It's a creative industry and if an individual has a particular skill-set that makes them an incredible designer their creative opinion should be valued anywhere. Just because they're a female doesn't mean that we should walk into an agency and instantly turn around and leave when we can't see a male designer in sight. 

In the article the author describes a time when she was trying to solve a problem on a job and she quietly mentioned the solution to a male designer who was on the team as she didn't have the confidence to speak to the room. As soon as she told him, he proposed the idea to the rest of the team and stole all of the glory, feeling like the king of design. 

I find it wrong that he couldn't have credited the author of the article that it was her idea and that she deserved the credit. It wouldn't have took much to say would it?

"Oh by the way, my colleague has just come up with an idea, what do you think of this..."

It would have been the most respectful thing to do. 

It doesn't matter who a person is, what matters is their ideas and quality of work. It's the contributions that they make to the world of design and the inspiration that they can give to other designers.

I'd love to hear other peoples opinions on this so please don't be afraid to drop me an email and let me hear your thoughts. Also don't be afraid to contact me on any feedback or if you just want a general chat about design, I'd love to hear from people who read these articles. 

matthewlawson12@msn.com