Knowing that I had been asked to write a review of the recent Schools of Thoughts 2 conference in Los Angeles, I dutifully took notes during all lectures and breakout sessions. But those notes don’t actually apply to what I’m going to write about. Because what struck me most, what I thought was most notable, was the evidence of a Graphic Design Matriarchy at the conference.
I’ll admit that I may be a bit slow on the uptake regarding this one… clearly Katherine McCoy, Lorraine Wild and Meredith Davis, among others, didn’t just appear this past weekend (and I must also admit that I don’t go to too many AIGA events or conferences…my bad). But even if I am a bit behind the realization curve, it was a wonderful thing to witness. The spirit of the conference seemed as non-hierarchical as possible. The proceedings approached education as a shared responsibility. The ideas of sharing, of education, of giving birth to the next generation of graphic designers… it all seemed so perfectly feminine.
Certainly, the presence of the McCoy, Wild and Davis brought back memories of the now defunct American Center for Design, which although it didn’t survive, certainly acted as a shot across the bow of a then-very-phallo-centric AIGA National.
Not wanting to seem too gyno-centric, I do want to disclose that on the Saturday of the conference, I had lunch with a male conference attendee/panel leader. Over sandwiches, I dared to expose my fascination with the very feminine tone of the conference with my Art Center Colleague, Peter Lunenfeld. I even expressed my hunch that the bent toward preserving a more complete sense of graphic design history, female or otherwise, seemed like byproduct of that very Matriarchy. The work of so many male designers (Lissitsky, Rand, Bass, etc…) is so well documented, so well preserved. The work of women designers, much less so. But rather than blame Phil Meggs or whine in some other fashion, it seems that the leading women designers of today are taking on that challenge, for themselves, but also for others.
At the conference alone, there was Katherine McCoy’s presentation of the history of KCAI, which while wrapped around the tenure of Rob Roy Kelly, also helps us to understand Inge Druckery and April Greiman’s formative years. Aaris Sherin of The University of Northern Iowa presented her collaborative online database of women in Graphic Design during one of the two “Approaches to Teaching Design History” breakout sessions. And in the closing address, Meredith Davis disclosed an ambitious book project that will include one volume on Design History that she will write in concert with Lorraine Wild and Martha Scotford (who herself is the author of the book on Cipe Pineles — one of the unsung heroes of the early/mid-century design community). Inasmuch as Peter Lunenfeld was once my thesis advisor, he’s never too quick to completely agree with me. But he did consider my postulations regarding The Matriarchy… and then… agreed that it might indeed be a possibility.
Allison Goodman is the author of The 7 essentials of graphic design (How Design Books, 2001) an entry level text for aspiring graphic designers as well as the graphic design curious. She has worked in the offices of Sussman/Prejza & Co., Inc. and Richard Saul Wurman. Currently, Goodman is a professor at the Art Center College of Design where she has taught since since 1990.
The notion of a Design Matriarchy — in the academic field — is very true. What I find interesting about this is that it doesn't apply to the professional world. When you think about the women who are leading these wonderful and myriad programs across the country it's — I think — literally impossible to draw an equally strong parallel in the professional realm. This, by no means, is an insult or delievered as offense to women — nor is this good or bad. Equally, a Design Patriarchy in the academic field is not as obvious or defined, but when it comes to the "leaders" (and I put this in quotes to avoid a discussion on who/what is a leader in design) of the professional world it's faster to name men than women.
So one could come to a very non-scientific, inconcussible conclusion that women create the best academic environments for men to flourish in the professional world…
On Mar.18.2005 at 02:37 PM