10 years iGDN

Prof. Dr. em. Uta Brandes, the first ever international professor for gender in design, wanted to bring together designers who also see the need for strengthening, internationalizing and visibility of this topic, which had been underestimated for a long time. Together with Prof. Dr. Michael Erlhoff she founded the international Gender Design Network/iGDN on March 29, 2013 in New York, hosted by the renowned Parsons School of Design.

Gender Design Ambassadors of the first hour came from Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Korea, Hong Kong, Taiwan, England, France, USA, Italy.

Meanwhile, the headquarter is based in Cologne. The iGDN organizes conferences, holds workshops and curates exhibitions. So far it has been operating with organizations in several cities all over Germany and internationally in Europe Hong Kong, Mexico City and Sheffield (GB). Press and media present iGDN specialists und their work in interviews and features.

In 2017 the iphiGenia Gender Design Award was invented to showcase the best examples of gender-sensitive design. On the one hand, to honor their social and economic impact and innovation potential, and on the other hand, to serve as a role model for other design creators. 2017-2019 the award took place annually and biennially since 2021.

Due to the current crises of the last few years, the topics of diversity and gender equality have increasingly become part of the social debate. The iGDN grew almost double, counting the new members and followers. Video conferences became commonplace and helped to foster international cooperation formats, seminars and meetings for academic research purposes.

Today, the iGDN has established a small but global network with with activities mainly in the areas of gender-design education, teaching, research and networking. In the next years iGDN is planning to extend its activities towards a broader design business audience.

Next event:

June 15, Gender Design Award iphiGenia 2023 / MAKK Cologne