Invisible Creatives database showcases global female talent

This week sees the launch of Invisible Creatives, an initiative aiming to fix the gender ratio in the ad industry by creating the largest female creative database featuring work from women all around the world.  

Set up by Maddy Kramer, a senior art director at Saatchi & Saatchi New York and Laura Visco, a creative director at 72andSunny Amsterdam, in response to the lack of a simple, tangible tool to make the process of finding female creative talent more efficient, the database has attracted submissions from all over the world since launching last week, and currently holds 200 portfolios from 20 different countries.

In a similar vein to Free The Bid (which asks agencies and brands to take a pledge to get one woman director bid on every job), Kramer and Visco are lobbying ad recruiters and agencies to pledge to consider at least one of the female creatives in their database for potential job opportunities, on the basis that if more women are considered, the more chances they have to get a job, and to end the underrepresentation of women in creative departments worldwide. Having more female representation will also impact the way women are represented in advertising, and that benefits society as a whole.

“I believe that Invisible Creatives is the first step to visually see how much female talent there is in the industry and which country is lacking. Also, we believe that together with agencies and headhunters, we can find what is not working and fix it. It’s time to stop talking and start doing,” says Kramer.  "The name is a bit sassy, yes. We want inVisible Creatives to become a tool to find talent that is often overlooked, so there are no more excuses for not hiring the best female creatives out there," adds Visco. "I’m lucky to work in a place that understands the value of diversity, but I know that’s not always the case. We need this industry to understand that diversity is not a moral issue. It’s a creative one."

If you are a female creative and would like to be added to the inVisible creatives database, you can submit your portfolio here.

If you are an agency or a headhunter, pledge by simply visiting the website and letting them know that you are adding some of the featured talent in your scouting plans.