Women in Type & Design

“Feminism by definition is the believe that men and women should have equal rights and opportunities. It is the theory of the political, economic and social equality of the sexes. There is no one country in the world where women can expect to receive equal rights. No country in the world can yet say that they have achieved gender equality” Emma Watson.

 Photo credit: Monotype Corporation and Linotype Limited. Photography source: https://www.women-in-type.com/

Full colour 'Female type' book cover.
'How many female type designers do you know?' book.
Book cover of 'Women in Print 1'.

Fonts, Type & Women



This is an ongoing resource of fonts designed by women, as well as supporting material to learn more about female and non-binary graphic and type designers.





Women Type Designers Resources

By Elena Veguillas via Alphabettes.


First/early Female Typeface Designers

By Indra Kupferschmid via Alphabettes.


Women Typeface Designers

Thesis project by Laura G. C. Webber, 1977.


Uncovering the History of Early Women Type Designers

Lecture by Lauren Elle DeGaine via Letterform Archive.


Women Type Designers

Download a PDF file with a comprehensive list of women type designers by Hans Reichardt.


Women of Type

This section —part of The Malee Scholarship— gathers a selection of great typefaces designed by women from all over the world.


Mulheres na Tipografia | Parte 1

Written by Flavia Zimbardi via Recorte.


Mulheres na Tipografia  |  Parte 2

Written by Flavia Zimbardi via Recorte.


How many female type designers do you know?

Book by Yulia Popova, published by Onomatopee .This book aims to shine light on the work of women in type. Besides that, it should serve as an alternative educational material for people interested in type history.


Type Faces | Womxn in Type

Research project investigating visibility of female type designers by Yulia Popova.


Femme Type Book

Publication celebrating women in the type design industry.


Women in Type

Women in Type is a three-year research project undertaken at the Department of Typography & Graphic Communication of the University of Reading between March 2018–November 2021. The project benefited from the support of the Leverhulme Trust as part of its Research Project Grants. The project is led by Prof. Fiona Ross with principal researcher Dr. Alice Savoie and post-doctoral assistant Dr. Helena Lekka.


Women in Type Lecture

By Alice Savoie hosted via The Cooper Union.


The Women of Photo-Lettering

Guest researcher Anne Galperin reveals unsung contributions to a major sourcebook of mid-twentieth-century type design.


Recovering the Forgotten Women of Metal Type Design

By Bethany Qualls via Letterform Archive.


The Women behind Times New Roman

The contribution of type drawing offices to twentieth century type-making article by Alice Savoie published on Oxford Academic.


Women of Type Design

IG account showcasing the great work of Women in type design.


Women Type Club

IG platform to collect and showcase typefaces designed by womxn.


Times New Women

Espacio seguro para el intercambio de conocimiento entre mujeres interesadas en el diseño de letra.


New Types: Three Pioneers of Hebrew Graphic Design Book

“Fransizka Baruch only created the font Stam, but also designed the font Schoken. She also created numerous logos that are still in use, or have been refreshed, such as Haaretz, Weizmann Institute, Tarshish Books, and many others” comment by Liad Shadmi.


Book cover of 'Baseline Shift. Untold stories of women in graphic design history'.
'Extra bold' book cover.
'Women in graphic design' book cover.

Graphic Design & Women


This is an ongoing resource of women in design, as well as supporting material to learn more about female and non-binary graphic designers. Get in touch in you know of any additional resources!


Black Girls In Design

Black Girls in Design aims to create a platform that would not only foster the needs of black women in Britain with backgrounds in Graphic, UX and UI design but also aims to create substantial awareness amongst the Black communities about these career options. Lack of visibility of such career choices has been one of the fundamental issues behind the disparity of diversity within the creative industries. We aim to deal with these barriers that are affecting the overall growth of black female designers in the UK.


Publishing experiments by women artists in Latin America, 1960-1990

Book curated by Mela Dávila Freire via Center For Book Arts. Curator Mela Dávila Freire presents her research process for the exhibition and publication at the New York Public Library in conversation with Silvina López Medin.


Women in Design

Directory curated by the talented designer Gabby Lord.


Baseline Shift: Untold stories of women in graphic design

Book edited by Briar Levitt and published by Princeton Architectural Press.


Extra Bold: A feminist, inclusive, anti-racist, non-binary field guide for graphic designers

Book by Ellen Lupton, Farah Kafei, Jennifer Tobias, Josh A. Halstead, Kaleena Sales, Leslie Xia and Valentina Vergara. Published by Princeton Architectural Press.


Woman Life Liberty

Documenting the artwork of the Iranian Revolution by Dena Taiebat.


“What does a feminist graphic design history in the United States look like?”

Four Articles by Dina Benbrahim published on Alphabettes.


Women At Work

A podcast about female creativity, leadership and feminism by Hey Studio.


Design by Women

Aimed to showcase, celebrate, inspire women + gender expansive + non-binary creatives working in the design + creative industry.


Women in Print 1 and 2

Women in Print is a collection of essays in two related volumes which considers the diversity of roles occupied by women in the design, authorship, production, distribution and consumption of printed material from the fifteenth century onwards. Printing History and Culture edited by Artemis Alexiou and Rose Roberto.


Antique, modern and swash, a brief history of women in printing

Book by Club of printing women of New York.


Women in Graphic Design 1890 – 2012

Book by Gerda Breuer and Julia Meer illuminates the forgotten women who made substantial contributions to design by focusing on their merits and quality of work.


Designing Women

Designing Women is an initiative that aims to combat gender inequality in the design industry and highlights the impact of female-identifying, non-binary, and other persons affected by gendered issues in design via Readymag.


Female Design Council

Founded by Lora Appleton, the Female Design Council (FDC) is the premier professional membership network and advocacy organization for womxn in design, architecture and the applied arts. The FDC’s mission is to advocate for equity and tangible gender parity in the design industries and provide access to professional opportunities for our members.


Freelancing Females

Tia knows what it’s like to not get paid – and it turns out she’s not the only one. What started as a small group designed to discuss non-payment issues quickly grew into the world’s largest community of freelance women. Freelancing Females is now a safe haven for all who identify as women to share their wins, loses, fears and knowledge in our ever-growing gig, project-based, and freelance economy.


Posterwomxn

Platform to amplify the visibility of womxn & non-binary poster designers.


Women of Illustration

IG account and WOI podcast.


We Are Fido

Network to showcase and celebrate women designers.


Ladies, Wine and Design

Platform diversifying the creative industry. Founded by Jessica Walsh.


Womentor

Mentorship program for women in design committed to improving gender equality in the design industry.


Maivens

Independent content platform to champion gender equality through communications. Based in Naarm (Melbourne).


The Assisterhood

Founded in 2018 by Linh Diep, Assisterhood is making an impact as Australia and Aotearoa’s leading industry mentorship program for underrepresented communication professionals. No matter your age, role, gender identity or where you are in Australia/Aotearoa, this program doesn’t discriminate.


Palestinian Feminist Collective

We are a Turtle Island-based body of Palestinian & Arab women & feminists committed to Palestinian liberation & beyond.



Affemation

Making heroes of women in Australian graphic design. 


Women Designers You Should Know

Let’s redesign history by celebrating women. A podcast and video series created by Amber Asay.


'Doing feminism' book cover by Anne Marsh.

Photo credit. Doing Feminism, women's art and feminist criticism in Australia. Cover design: Evi-o Studio.



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