Women in Web: Jen Segrest
Jen Segrest is a 38-year-old designer from Middletown, Ohio
Jen Segrest is a 38-year-old designer from Middletown, Ohio. She has won numerous awards and accolades for her insightful use of American styled Fifties/Sixties ambiance. We sat down with Jen to discuss her take on women in top spots at design agencies.
AUTHOR: Lincoln Johnson | Originally appeared in Web Designer Issue 152
WD: In your experience, have you come across many female creative directors or art directors?
JS: To be honest, being freelance now since 2001, I’m not as up as I should be on the who’s who of web design. I do notice that it’s still mostly a boy’s game in my annuals and such, and that’s sad, but I’m not surprised it has not changed too much since I got out of school. Women have such a high attention to detail, so that already gives them the leg-up on some spectacular design that just makes you lean into a page.
WD: Do you think that the geeky image of web design still exists? Or do you think that it has evolved into a slightly more respectable profession? And if it still maintains that image, do you think that could be why women are deterred from stepping up?
JS: Over here, it’s got that ‘geek chic’ thing going on. Geeks are in, but it’s always boy geeks that get the glory. Girl geeks always seem to be objectified into little urban Goth critters, flashing hot-pink bras or witty T-shirts on MySpace. For women old enough to be born before the Reagan administration, getting people to give you an ounce of credit that you do have a clue is the hard part. It’s as if you happen to be older than 30 and a woman, you are expected to be some kind of technophobe afraid of her own email account. I do all the networking in my house, damn it! And my husband is an IT guy! The biggest trouble comes in trying to get people from outside the industry to take you seriously when there are tons of web design schools in every major or even minor US city that advertise on TV at 3am. Those outfits cheapen the entire industry as a whole in informing the population that the job is easy to learn in six months or less, and gluts the market for the few jobs we have. Couple that with everyone’s nephew having a ripped copy of Adobe Photoshop and dying to do that website for $200!
www.verybigdesign.com is Jen Segrest’s portfolio site
WD: With all of your experience, do you feel that you’re in a position to lead others in a creative director role? And if so, is it something you would ever consider doing in the future?
JS: Oh God, no, I have no aspirations of managing people! I’ve been out of the daily grind too long doing freelancing. I like working out of the house. Taking naps. Wrestling dogs midday. I like having my little work list and doing it and being done. I loved working with other designers, but I’m more of a team player. I like to bounce things back and forth on what works or not. I like to ask and give opinions. I would hate a creative director’s role; I’d end up losing what I like best, which is designing stuff. I love the whole process of it. Making something stunning from half a page of printed blather that you couldn’t pay someone to read on its own.
WD: Do you think that the perception of male domination in digital design is a fair one?
JS: No, I know of many women in design. A girl I worked with at one firm was even nominated for a Grammy for best CD design. There are tons of us, there just doesn’t seem to be as many on top of the agencies. We seem to largely be content in a lower position as long as the work is satisfying – I know I was. Hell, I still am!
WD: Do you feel that you have ever been held back because of your gender, or could have accomplished more in this industry if you were male?
JS: I’ve had the interview question whether I had any children planned. I don’t think they believed me when I said I didn’t want any kids; as it turned out, I didn’t get the job. I think that many employers are just afraid women will become baby factories and end up out of the office more than in.
WD: It has been suggested historically that women in power are difficult to work for. Being a woman yourself, do you agree?
JS: I hate to say this with the theme of this article, but if I was offered a job to work for a woman, I’d probably refuse. I just get along better with men. Women usually end up judging you on 16 things before lunch and it usually turns into some high-school drama at some point. The constant judging on personal arbitrary scales really gets on my nerves. It bugs me with my girlfriends now, and we don’t even work together. Guys are just simpler to satisfy and don’t usually have hoops to jump. Show up, do good work and usually you are golden.
WD: Where do you see digital design heading in the next five years, and what role do you think women will play in making that happen?
JS: I think most of the women I know doing design are stay-at-home mothers, or freelancers like me. I’d like to think it’s going to be more and more about tiny firms, or even one-man firms. Using the web to compile a crack squad of kick-ass design assassins around the globe. What I’d really love to see is networks of independent designers all teaming up for jobs. Spreading the wealth as it were. What a concept!
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jesus H what a beauty!
Wow, excellent and original designs!
Very good interview and designs are cool……
the designs are very gud.
This entire interview is gender oriented. little whining too, a designer should never have it.
wow, lady with gender problem. is this design interview or Opera show, lol
As a web designer myself I can completely relate to what Jen does. I’ve worked in web design since 1995 and witnessed first hand the changes to the internet since then – they’ve been huge! In the beginning, most web designers were “geeky” males. Now most of them seem to be very young university graduates who have been “taught” how to be creative. Being self-taught myself, I feel a special sense of achievement in knowing that I discovered HTML without anyone telling me I should, taught myself, and have been working steadily in the business for over a decade. It doesn’t matter whether you’re male or female. Good design is good design, and if you can get a message across in a clear, concise fashion, while still adhering to the myriad of new standards which unfold each year, you’re on to a winner!
This is an excellent interview, and the first that i have read from a woman’s prospective.This is a great insight as i myself find that being a web designer has an element of geek chic about it, and also is a widely male dominated profession.
I was very happy to have found an article in the Web Designer ,issue 161, magazine announcing your article. I am currently enrolled in Web Design class now. I am trying to see where I fit in and what I could accomplished in the future. This article in encouraging.
Thank you for sharing.
Laura – Brooklyn, NY
Very Nice Designs.
I wrote this article not with the intention of becoming an Agony Aunt that just wanted to depict women as helpless creatures who need a big strong man to guide them along, but as a means of giving two very talented women the opportunity to give very different perspectives as to how they view web design. I have worked with Yuni and can tell you that she has worked for many huge international agencies on amanzingly ‘facey’ brands and she always comes up Trumps. She is not judged by her gender but by her contribution.
Jen on the other hand was doing very interesting things with web design when it was in its infancy. I was inspired to become a web designer in the mid 90′s as a result of seeing Jens work and have always admired her ability to take something nostalgic and give it a new home on the internet. I hope you all enjoyed this interview and hopefully it inspired you (love it or hate it) to think, remember, every great creation started with a thought.
Lincoln Johnson
http://www.bionikloft.co.uk