Women are now the largest student body demographic in graphic design programs, yet in the twenty-first century the professional work of female designers is still underrepresented or ignored in the media and historical canons.

Women Graphic Designers features illustrated essays of 42 undervalued and marginalized female graphic designers from diverse global cultures who worked professionally during the 20th century (1900–1999). Each essay critically explores each subject’s challenges and alternative approaches when faced with professional roadblocks or personal and family dilemmas.

I wrote the first essay in the book, called “Uemura Shōen: The Pine that Stands Alone yet Which is One of Many”. The essay is a biography of Uemura Shōen 上村松園 (1875–1949), an artist, illustrator, and occasional graphic designer.

Uemura was one of the leading artists in Japan in the Meiji (1868–1912), Taishō (1912–1926), and early Shōwa (1926–1989) periods who broke conventions regarding the roles of women in Japan and set precedents for emerging female artists in Japan as the country Westernized following the Meiji Restoration of 1868 and Japan reopening to the West after the 265 years of Japan being largely closed to the rest of the world.

With a broad range of contributors from around the world looking at the work of international graphic designers, Women Graphic Designers is ideal for readers interested in expanding the graphic design history beyond the traditional canon and looking at design history holistically. This significantly important publication celebrates the contribution women have made to the discipline of graphic design and help establish a more comprehensive, diverse and inclusive design history.

I am happy that my writing is included among design historians whose work I incredibly respect and enjoy, such as Tasheka Arceneaux Sutton, Margo Halverson, and Stephan Rosger. Women Graphic Designers was generously initiated and edited by designer, design educator, and design historian Elizabeth Resnick. Women Graphic Designers is published by Bloomsbury Design Books.