Readymag Reinvents Designing Women

Readymag, the design tool for creating outstanding websites without coding, announces the relaunch of Designing Women, an initiative crafted to make a contribution towards combating gender inequality in design. As part of this initiative, the company presents the ReadyLaunch Grant—four fellowships tailored to kickstart design projects and amplify the voices of female-identifying, non-binary, and other individuals affected by gender-related issues in the design industry.

“Rather than sending greeting cards on March 8th, let’s focus on creating environments where women can thrive, grow, and shape the future of the design industry,” notes Diana Kasay, co-founder and CEO of Readymag. “We expect the ReadyLaunch grant to help the project authors pursue their true passion.”

The first edition of Designing Women was launched in 2019. As Diana Kasay noted, the project was about empowering women’s voices in the design industry. “We didn’t have the illusion that releasing the project would immediately change the world, but we clearly felt how its launch affected the design community—we brought to the surface women whose names had been unjustly forgotten and did not receive the attention they deserved.”

As part of the relaunch, Readymag announced the ReadyLaunch Grant to help female-identifying and non-binary designers to put their projects into action. Tailored to kickstart or fully launch design initiatives, the ReadyLaunch Grant supports a wide range of project types, including newsletters, zines, YouTube channels, and podcasts. Grantees can utilize the funds to cover a variety of expenses, such as team payments, space rentals, production costs, project resources, or participation in training programs. Each grant package includes a fellowship valued at $ 2,000, alongside free one-year access to a Female Design Council membership, enrollment in the Female Design Council Mentor Match Program, and assistance in securing media coverage. The application period is open from March 4, 2024, to May 8, 2024.

The Designing Women enlightenment web project showcases 37 profiles, serving as an archive that celebrates remarkable women who have significantly influenced the design industry throughout the 20th and 21st centuries. Among the names are Paula Scher, Kazuyo Sejima, Charlotte Perriand, Debbie Millman, Norma Merrick Sklarek, Tea Uglow, and Jessica Walsh.

The focus of the relaunch in 2024 was to make the project more horizontal and inclusive. “Our marketing and design teams are mostly female, and we’ve experienced a lot of the issues the project addresses firsthand,” comments Alya Datii, Head of Marketing at Readymag. “With deep-rooted experience in the design industry, we’re well-acquainted with its challenges and pain points. We sat down and listed all of our problems, experiences, needs, and demands at the intersection of our work and gender. From there, we picked those we could try to tackle as a team. After reaching out to other communities for input, we started the work.”

The project also includes a curated list of over 20 organizations and initiatives tailored for female and non-binary individuals in the design field. These resources are aimed at providing support for networking, securing funding, accessing design training and career opportunities, and showcasing personal work.

Find out more here!