33 women doing amazing things in graphic design

These talented women have unleashed their creativity and skills on the world of graphic design.

Did you know Carolyn Davidson designed Nike’s Swoosh logo in 1971? Or that Susan Kare designed many of the original Apple Macintosh interface elements? With talent, dedication, and creativity in spades, women are – and always have been – killing it in graphic design.

Here are 33 more women who are making their mark on the graphic design world, with much thanks to the awesome visual collection, articles, and links to interviews at the Women of Graphic Design website, which is committed to promoting the work of women graphic designers.

Paula Scher is an American graphic designer, illustrator, and educator, and the first female Principal at Pentagram. She started experimenting with typography in the early 1980s and looked to historic design sources such as Russian Constructivism, obscure and little-used typefaces, and her seemingly unlimited imagination.

Multidisciplinary designer and art director Leta Sobierajski has a bright and brilliant portfolio that includes works for big client names such as Target, UNIQLO, Tate Modern, Bloomberg Businessweek, and Google. Her playful and colorful style is certainly anything but boring.

Jing Zhang’s portfolio is equally colorful and playful with a design and illustration style that translates complicated ideas into digital images. They appear both complex and simple, combining intricate detail, infographics, and miniatures worlds.

Vanessa Eckstein founded Blok in 1999 and later invited Marta Cutler – who had a background at advertising agencies such as MacLaren McCann and DDB – to join. Taking on varied and meaningful projects, their clear and elegant style has a foundation in brand analysis and conceptual thought.

Lithuanian-born Indrè Klimaitè now lives and practices her craft in the Netherlands. With a bold and graphic style, she says, “there should be only one visual idea but it should be strong enough not to be labeled lame, boring, or predictable.”

Jessica Walsh is killing it on Bēhance with more than 130,000 followers, and rightfully so as one of the partners of Sagmeister Walsh. Her work has won numerous awards: Forbes magazine named her one of its ‘30 under 30,’ and the Art Director’s Club selected her as one of its ‘Young Guns.’

Debbie Millman is the host of the ‘Design Matters’ podcast and is President of Design at Sterling Brands where she has worked on the redesign of more than 200 brands, including Pepsi and Nestle. Graphic Design USA rightfully named her “one of the most influential designers working today.”

Jessica Hische is one of the great women designers that Debbie has spoken with for ‘Design Matters.’ She is a letterer, illustrator, and type designer, working for Wes Anderson and Penguin Books, amongst many other clients.

Chiara Aliotta heads up the design studio Until Sunday and works as brand manager for Joomla!. Her work reflects her love for the beauty of typography and her belief in good design.

London-based Sarah Boris has earned her stripes designing for some of UK’s cultural institutions, including the Barbican Centre, Tate, the Architecture Foundation, and Gasworks. Her strong portfolio includes visual identity, exhibition graphics, editorial design, book design, plus more.

Jiani Lu is an award-winning Canadian multidisciplinary designer and photographer specializing in branding, print, and information design. Her style is subtle, elegant, and contemporary as she uses white space to her advantage.

Racking up the followers on Dribbble, Kelli Anderson loves to experiment with new ways of making images and experiences. She draws, photographs, cuts, prints, and codes, even working with her own 1919 letterpress and other gadgets and machines.

Hailing from Helsinki, Lotta Nieminen worked for Pentagram and RoAndCo before establishing her own design studio in New York. Winning numerous awards and nominations, her client list includes Google, Hermès, United Airlines, and Volkswagen, as well a number of well-known publications.

With more than 42,000 followers on Bēhance, Raewyn Brandon has to be doing something right. In fact, she’s mastered the art of graphics and layout so much so that she provided creative direction and design (in collaboration with Matias Corea) for Super-Modified: The Bēhance Book of Creative Work.

Nina Geometrieva is also getting it right in the world of graphic design. The talented designer and illustrator combines bright colors and geometric shapes for a style that’s visual appealing and easy to comprehend.

Verena Michelitsch cut her teeth at Sagmeister & Walsh, Pentagram, and RoAndCo before becoming Design Director at Sid Lee NY. Her work has a strong emphasis on line, as she creates intricate line drawings and patterns balanced with plenty of white space.

Italian-born, Teresa Sdralevich is a poster designer and illustrator based in Brussels. With a background in political science, her work addresses social, political, and cultural topics, creating bold posters that combine images with slogans for maximum impact.

As Deputy Creative Director of Bloomberg Businessweek, Tracy Ma turns her hand to magazine design on a daily basis, turning out stunning graphics to accompany hard-hitting stories. Her work has been recognized by the Type Directors Club, Print magazine, and the Society of Print Designers, plus others.

Fanette Mellier is a Paris-based designer who works with a distinctive and abstract use of vibrant color. From design to design-as-art, her work has graced magazines, graphic festivals, and art museums, including the Centre Pompidou in Paris.

Anna Kuts is a recent graduate who has already built up a strong portfolio. With a real interest in logo design, her work is varied and sophisticated as she combines textures, eye-catching colors, and an emphasis on line.

As a lettering artist and stop-motion animator, Becca Clason brings typography to life using foods, products, and other items. It goes without saying that her Instragram is an absolute treat. Even Time Out New York, The Washington Post, Denny’s, and American Express have all taken a liking to Becca’s taste in design.

Born in Germany and now living in New York, Alex Proba — a graphic designer, illustrator, and art director — established Studio Proba after working as Art Director for Kick Starter. Living proof that practice pays off, Alex dedicates 30 minutes a day to her ‘A Poster A Day’ project.

Veronica Fuerte is one member of the talented trio behind Hey Studio. The studio turns out stunning work with an emphasis on color and geometry, strong and powerful ideas, and an overwhelmingly positive attitude.

Illustrator and graphic designer Monika Lang specializes in culture-related projects like festivals and exhibitions. Mastering the art of color, Monika plays with hues that are textured and/or subtly desaturated without losing their sense of vibrancy.

Katarina Medić has a strong methodical approach to design and an interest in systems and emerging technologies. Her passion for designing interactions and experiences is expressed in her bold and colorful work in identity, editorial, and UI design.

Anaïs Bourdet is a graphic designer and art director with a strong and varied portfolio that includes editorial design, branding, packaging, and illustration. While Anaïs’ style is uniquely tailored to each client and project, color unites her body of work.

Shanti Sparrow produces engaging posters, brochures, and more, for profit and not-for-profit organizations. Her layouts are characteristically informed by grid and diagonal geometries the make for clear and stunning visual communication.

Kellyn Walker’s designs have a distinctly feminine style that works beautifully in the field of fashion. Warm, soft, and subtle colors are enticing and romantic while her layouts are minimalist and draw attention to the natural textures in photographs.

Specializing in digital design, Danish-born Stinne Wilhelmsen is Senior Designer and Art Director at Red Antler in New York. Her work continuously seeks to push the standards and limits of design and she is unafraid of experimenting with bold colors and white space.

Marta Gawin has deservedly received a number of awards in her short career as a multidisciplinary graphic designer. She takes a conceptual, logical, and content-driven design approach, and treats graphic design as a field of visual research and formal experiments.

A self-taught designer (now attending Miami International University of Art & Design), Laura Pol has a distinctively minimalist style that emphasizes the artistry of her work. Her touch is subtle and her seemingly-effortless work is elegant and sophisticated.

In contrast, Marta Veludo’s style is distinctively bright and playful. Inspired by pop-culture and folk art, and fascinated by color and composition (plus more), Marta designs for clients that include Adidas, Reebok, and Lego, combining different disciplines and mediums to build engaging experiences.

Vicki Turner has an illustration style that recalls mid-century design, particularly the work of the great Alexander Girard. Her style is detailed and compact with a strong sense of geometry and appealing color combinations.

These women are just a small selection of the talented designers who are working in the typically male-dominated industry of graphic design. Their superb work is a reflection of their drive and talent, and an expression of their creativity and skill. Find them on Béhance, follow them on Twitter, check out their pictures on Instagram, and be inspired by what they, and many other women in the field of design are producing.