and more on the Y debacle:
This whole thing really bothers me. Here's why; I accept the notion that design "celebrities" put asses in seats at design lectures. That's their job. And, working mothers of young children would logically have less time to get on airplanes and show their portfolios in OshKosh, which, when done in infinite repitition, with reasonably good reviews, is how good designers ultimately become design "celebrities". But forget that for a moment. Book design has traditionally been the one area of graphic design where women have truly excelled. It's the province of women's design, complete with low pay! There is no shortage of names here. We all know that. So how come this panel happened? If the 92nd St. Y merely wanted asses in seats, why not get John Stewart and Amy Sedaris and they can talk about their books. I t would fill alot more than 900 seats, if that's the goal. And they're even funnier that Chip Kidd. Not one panel member seemed to think it odd that there wasn't woman present there. Until they were asked by the audience about "super-star" designers and then a list of not-famous-enough-women were recited. No one, (no man) raised it with the Y when they were asked to speak . Noone insisted that based on the overwhelming amount of leading talent in this particular part of the design industry, one leading women should logically appear . No one bothered to think that it might look bad, or they might look bad. And that's how this stuff, really, continues to happen. It's not about "superstars" and not about babies. They just needed one. Give up one of the guys. How about Milton? Replace him with Carin Goldberg and the audience can be astonished at what a swell speaker she is, so she'll be asked again and again. I know how all of this works. I've been the "woman panelist" for 30 years. This one makes me sick. Posted by: paula scher on December 11, 2006 04:54 PM
Read the whole thread here.