Diversity in the design industry

I’ve been working as a designer in some fashion for more than two decades—as an employee and as an entrepreneur, in small studios and in large agencies, and at tiny startups and late-stage enterprises. What I’ve seen is that as an industry, we are teeming with progressive-leaning professionals, most of whom would avidly applaud the idea of greater diversity and inclusion in design workplaces.

But if I’m honest, I can only count a handful of times that I’ve worked with an African American, Hispanic, or Native American designer at any level. The reality of the design industry is that we’re homogenous—overwhelmingly white.

— Creative careers elude people of color - Khoi Vinh

My experiences from a career that span over the same amount of time are very similar to Khoi’s. Although Sweden’s immigration policies have been generous over the years, I can count the times I’ve worked with people from the Middle East or former Yugoslavia on one hand.