Women, Wine, and Design: How Creative Industries and Feminism Are Connected

Contents:

• About Ladies, Wine & Design in Russia
• About the main topics of the project
• About the meeting formats
• About the commercial component
• About the G8 festival

In 2016, Jessica Walsh, a designer and business partner of Stefan Sagmeister, launched the project Ladies, Wine & Design, created to support women in the design industry. This professional community provides women with the opportunity to connect, share knowledge and experience, and discuss their projects. Ladies, Wine & Design fosters connections between female designers and creates a platform for their development in the industry. The community actively supports women, helping them find inspiration and confidence in their professional endeavors. Over the past five years, the project has expanded significantly, reaching 280 cities worldwide, including Russia. We discussed this with Katya Shashina, head of the Moscow chapter of Ladies, Wine & Design. Design, the importance of community support, public speaking and the relationship between feminism and design.

Graphic designer and art director of K•SH studio, as well as a member of the international community of typographic designers ISTD. Curator of the women's design community Ladies, Wine & Design in Moscow, hosts a podcast of the same name, where she discusses current topics in the field of design. She is a speaker and tutor, sharing her experience and knowledge with future graphic design professionals.

About Ladies, Wine & Design in Russia

There are four chapters in Russia: Moscow, St. Petersburg, Tomsk, and Yekaterinburg. Each of them is unique. We held a meeting with five women from these cities, each of whom shared their projects. Tomsk has a more pronounced pro-feminist direction, while St. Petersburg emphasizes networking. Yekaterinburg, being the newest chapter, also organizes women's projects and meetings, but it seems that the participants are still searching for their main goal. As for Moscow, we strive to be the most active and set the tone for all other chapters, so we regularly update content on Instagram, Telegram, and release podcasts.

Launching a project in your city is quite easy. To do this, please contact the head office, after which you will receive a welcome pack including logos, graphic materials, a description and goals of the project, and important contact information. The process is transparent and clear. You can implement any ideas, as long as two key conditions are met: regular monthly meetings and support for women in the creative industries. This creates opportunities for sharing experiences and expanding your network, which facilitates the project's development and attracts new participants.

We meet monthly with our community members. All other aspects of our activities, including funding sources (which, unfortunately, we don't have), the choice of activities, and topics for discussion, are determined at our discretion. We strive to create a comfortable atmosphere for communication and exchange of experiences, which allows us to develop our community and deepen the interaction between participants.

About the main themes of the project

Our social networks contain a unique knowledge base about women's projects in various fields. Few people know that the design of the famous Soviet can of condensed milk was created by a woman architect, Iraida Fomina. This fact highlights the important role of women in the history of design and architecture. We strive to share such stories to highlight women's contributions to the development of various industries. Join us and discover many inspiring examples of female creativity and professionalism.

We focus on women engaged in lettering, architecture, photography, activism and design, not because we oppose We're not talking about men, but because we want to highlight their contributions. For example, if you Google "motivational quotes about design," you'll find many quotes from men and only a few from women. This isn't because there aren't enough women, but because their achievements and opinions often go unnoticed. Finding inspiring words from women in this field requires a lot of time combing through interviews and articles, as historically, men tend to talk more about themselves and their successes. We strive to change this and highlight the importance of women's voices in creative professions. Our main goal is to highlight women's projects, their unique approaches to design, and their business stories. We already have a wealth of interesting content: we conduct interviews, collect relevant women's projects from both contemporary and historical authors, and raise important topics for the industry. Over the past year, we've discussed architecture, lettering, freelancing, starting our own studios, burnout, work-life balance, and important issues like impostor syndrome, business style from a female perspective, toxicity, and feminism. All this information is presented on our Instagram, which can be considered a real database for those interested.

About meeting formats

Our events are divided into useful meetings and networking sessions. Networking involves meeting in an informal setting, for example, in a bar, where participants can get to know each other, chat and exchange experiences. Even if I set a specific topic, the discussion often shifts to more personal and interesting topics, and we can spend hours in engaging conversations. After such meetings, we receive positive feedback: participants begin to attend exhibitions and events together, implement joint projects, and find contractors for their tasks.

A useful meeting is an expert discussion on a relevant topic and usually takes place via video call, most often on Zoom. We have currently suspended these meetings, as many are tired of constant video conferences. However, I have no plans to move them to an in-person format, as organizing events with speakers, providing sound, recording, and editing requires significantly more resources, both time and money, than I have. For the summer, we have decided to limit our meetings to networking events, and will consider resuming expert discussions in the future.

We strive to make our meetings accessible not only to experienced, high-income designers but also to students. Students make up 15-20% of our entire community. These are women who are either changing their careers, have just moved to Moscow and decided to become designers, or are currently in their senior years. The majority of our meeting participants are mid- and senior-level designers. We are confident that such a diversity of participants enriches the exchange of experience and promotes the development of professional skills in design.

About the commercial component

Some community members may mistakenly believe that funding comes from Jessica Walsh and that we have significant funds. In fact, I cover most of the necessary expenses myself. Admission to our events is usually free, but we offer tickets with a "Support the Community" option for 200-400 rubles. If we manage to raise around 1,500 rubles per month, we consider it a success.

I don't pay the speakers or the team, even though I think that's wrong. However, if I have commercial projects that I can delegate to the girls on the team, I always do so. It's my internal rule: if I can't reward them financially, I try to offer something else.

Our team currently has ten volunteers, most of whom are girls who joined us about a year ago. I realize this may sound presumptuous, but a significant part of the success in organizing the work truly belongs to me. I strive to create an atmosphere in which the girls feel motivated and interested in the project. We strive to show them how important their contribution to the development of the design community is.

I have worked with various bosses, and I have learned important lessons about how not to manage a team. In my work, I focus on the workload of the members and try to avoid pressure. We build processes based on the harmonious flow of projects, which allows us to achieve the best results. If I notice that one of the girls is losing interest in our work - this can happen if there is no immediate return on results - I always reach out to her and ask how I can help. Perhaps it is worth taking a break for a few weeks or suggesting an alternative activity within the community that can inspire and maintain motivation. If the work is not based on mutual understanding and support, I risk being left without a team.

I observe how the girls on the team communicate with each other, saying: “You made a mistake. Let's figure out together how we can fix it. Can I help?” In such moments, I realize that our work is producing results. This may only affect the girls on the team and a few of the most active members, but it seems they're starting to think about new approaches. I'm genuinely glad that the development process is moving forward. Even if it's small steps, it's important for us.

About the G8 Festival

For two years, we have been collaborating with the G8 Festival, curating the Design section together with Mitya Osadchuk. We actively invite girls from our community, providing them with the opportunity to develop and grow in a professional environment. We share experiences, help with presentation preparation and proofreading, and collaborate on relevant topics. Our goal is to provide opportunities to present on a large platform in front of a wide audience. If we don't develop new speakers, who else will?

When I first joined the community, I conducted several interviews with the girls in the group and asked them about their main job. Taya Denisova, who leads projects at the Linii branding agency, shared her goal: "I strive to ensure that every designer on my team is satisfied and happy, that they don't have overtime, and that they work on projects that interest and excite them." This idea resonated with me, and I remarked, "Taya, imagine how useful this would be for other companies. Every designer would want to hear this." To which she sheepishly replied, "Is that really interesting? What's there to talk about?"

This approach to team management can significantly improve the efficiency and creativity of designers. Creating a comfortable working environment where designers can pursue their passion projects not only improves the quality of their work but also contributes to their professional growth. This is an important factor that many companies should consider as they strive to increase productivity and employee satisfaction.

She was extremely nervous, as it was her first time performing on stage. At the last minute, the festival was switched to an online format, although we had previously rented a venue for 600 people. The audience, except for the organizers and a few friends, was empty, and this was intimidating. Luckily, the organizers allowed us to inspect the hall beforehand. Taya was standing nearby, and I noticed her knees shaking. I reassured her: "It's okay, I'll be in the audience, I'm with you, you can handle it! We'll be scared together." On the day of her performance, Taya took the stage. I was sitting behind her, and the nervous tension was making me sweat, as the broadcast was on VKontakte, where the audience wasn't always friendly.

When I opened the comments, I noticed that everyone was writing, "Taya, you're great! Don't worry, you're saying very important things." Not a single negative comment, like, "Who even let her on stage?" After the performance, she read these reviews and was very happy. This was a new positive experience for her, and I hope that she will continue to develop in this direction.