Picture your favorite font. What do you see? The shapes and contours that inspire and excite you, or the person who designed it? Let’s say you choose Helvetica.
Do you picture the friendly counter of the lowercase a, or the smiling face of Massimo Vignelli, who made it famous? Bonus points if you pictured his designer wife, Lella, who shared his affinity for the modernist typeface.
The history of design has been written by both women and men, but there have been times when it was difficult to see where women have had a seat at the table, and just how significant their contributions have been.
While the doors of design have always been open to women (sometimes just a crack, sometimes more), the industry has not been immune to sexism, outdated expectations around gender roles, and the claustrophobic effect of the glass ceiling.
