We’ve been following Grace Bonney’s blog Design Sponge for years now. We were first drawn to it because the stuff she shares is beautiful, and while this particular type of visual design (interior design, product design, etc.) is a bit outside of our area, we find it extremely important to look for inspiration beyond the video storytelling world.
Plus there is a lot of interplay between visual design and the story design we emphasize in our projects and collaborations. The long and short of it is this: great visual design, be it a room, a logo, a book layout, comes from a series of intentional decisions. Deciding what to leave in and sometimes even more importantly, deciding what to leave out.
The exact same thing is true for story design. The end result should feel inevitable, leaving the audience with a feeling of, “Ah.” But the pieces don’t fall into place on their own. Getting the desired result requires extensive intentional planning.
When we first started reading Design Sponge, we were also drawn to a separate part of the blog about women-owned businesses. This section, called “Biz Ladies,” has since expanded, and is a great resource for running a business, regardless of your field (or gender).
So when we heard that Grace was putting out a Design Sponge book inspired by Biz Ladies, we snatched it up immediately. It’s so nice to have a physical book that has the same aesthetic, creativity, and boldness that her blog has. We were drawn to this book for obvious reasons, it’s about women who own creative businesses and it celebrates the diversity within that broad category. Although we found that many of the stories applied directly to our experience as female business owners, the women in this book also talk about struggles that we all experience and we think that anyone can learn from the inspiring stories that are shared.
This book is also important because it’s trying to break from the tradition of only showing straight white women as successful female business owners. Running a business is a creative endeavor in and of itself and the business community needs creativity and diversity in order to thrive and evolve.
You can read more about the book and where to find it here.