Saturday, 1 August 2015

OUGD601: Dissertation Topic

An Its Nice That article written by Rebecca Wright (programme director of graphic communication at Central St. Martins) prompted my dissertation topic on the ration of girls with design degrees vs. those in industry...

http://www.itsnicethat.com/articles/rebecca-wright

“A 2013 Guardian survey reports that of the 12,930 students at the University of the Arts London, of which CSM is part, 9,370 are female – a pretty weighty 72.5%”

"At Central Saint Martins this is by no slight margin. Of the 525 students enrolled this year on BA Graphic Design, 372 are female, which is 70.8%. The picture is similar on MA Communication Design where female students are 68.3% of the cohort."

"this female domination in graphic design education appears to be reversed when it comes to the graphic design industry"

"A much-quoted survey of the UK design industry published by the Design Council in 2010 revealed that only 40% of designers were women, in startling contrast to the 70% of female design students."


After reading this article and the statistics it really made me think, why are there so few female designers in industry and in the history of design? as well as this, the handful of design events I've attended and visiting professionals we have had in at college, they have all been male.

My previous COP essays have been on advertising, women, body image and the magazine industry so I feel this is a good spring board from that. At the moment I feel this dissertation will be an exploration into the realm of female Graphic Designers – the successes, the attitudes and the problems faced in the industry. As a female myself about to enter into the industry it is something that I find very interesting and incredibly relevant.