Design Writer – New York
“Keep a group of friends that will be honest with you.”
Based in Brooklyn, New York, Grace Bonney is designer, writer and trendspotter who spends her days buried deep within the design world. After graduating with a degree in Art and Art History from the College of William and Mary in 2003, she founded Design*Sponge, a design blog now read by over 30,000 design fans every day.
In addition to Design*Sponge, Bonney works as a freelancer and consultant with some of the top publications in the country including House & Garden Magazine, CITY, Slate, New York Home, Better Homes and Gardens, The New York Post, Time Out New York, Food and Wine and Budget Travel. In addition to acting as HGTV’s style editor for “Ideas” Magazine, Grace also wrote a weekly design column for the Philadelphia Inquirer for the past year and a half.
In October of 2006, Bonney created the Design*Sponge shop- an online store for limited edition handmade design in which the designers take home 100% of their profits. A staunch advocate of independent and student design, Bonney created the Design*Sponge Scholarship in January of 2007 to support student designers in the United States. Bonney also created and runs a series of meet-ups for NYC area women working in the design field. Through these “Biz Lady” meet ups, Bonney connects area professionals working in the fields of manufacturing, public relations, law and wholesaling with independent designers running their own businesses. In the fall of 2007 Bonney will be expanding her meet-ups across the county in hopes of helping more young designers get their businesses off the ground.
How did you become interested and involved in your design blog?
I really kind of fell into it. I was interested in writing for design magazines, but I didn’t have a degree for that and thought I had no chance of getting in. And then I thought, “Why don’t you just start a blog?” Blogging was so easy to start because it was free, and I started out by just listing things that I enjoyed. I guess it was the right place and the right time, because people started reading it – the same people who would read the design magazines began to read my blog.
What obstacles did you face?
It depends on the goal that I was working towards. At first, my goals weren’t too big. My first was to set up a site that worked visually and that I was happy with substance-wise. I researched the online indie market to figure out what was out there. My philosophy was really to keep my head down and keep working. Also, I made a huge effort to communicate with artists directly and to stay in touch with the designers themselves. So many blogs that are taking off are starting to get detached. I want to make sure that I make and keep connections on the ground level.
How has your experience been shaped by being a woman?
It has been pretty tough to run all this as a woman. Actually, I was surprised because there are so many women in the design industry. I would get reactions from male advertisers who didn’t want to deal with me financially because they assumed that I couldn’t deal with numbers. They would always ask to talk to “the ad guy”. A lot of men in media or design will really try to belittle women by calling her “cutesy” and recognizing only the girly aspect of women. I learned to have thick skin and to stand your ground – if it means that you don’t work with certain people or companies, then that’s fine. I would rather work with women who are running their own businesses than have to prove myself to men working in large corporations. It helps to talk about my experiences with other women and to create my own network.
What lessons have you learned?
The most important lesson is that if you really stand strong to who you are and what you believe in, you will end up the happiest. There’s always the pressure to take on new writers or to change the direction. It’s all so tempting, but the more you listen to your gut, the better off you are. You should always keep a group of friends that will be honest with you. And always remember what your original goal was to keep everything in perspective.
Do you have any advice that you would give to young women?
It is really important with any project to have a clear mission project. Let people know your goal. The more successful you are, especially as a woman, the people you deal with more and more are men. They will want to market you the way they see fit. Just remember what your goal is. Stick to that goal and be strong about it – don’t let people hold you down for being a woman.
