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International Women’s Day, celebrated on the 8th March of each year, is a global celebration of the social, economical, cultural and political achievements of women. The day is also a call to action for accelerating women’s equality. The theme for 2022 is #BreakTheBias and stands for calling out gender bias and inequality, and creating an inclusive world.
At Gibsons we are proud to support women and their achievements and careers. Our team is made up of powerful women, including 75% of our Board of Directors. We also work with a range of female artists and inventors for our jigsaws and games, and are excited to promote women in the workplace.
Last year we spoke to our heads of departments about what International Women’s Day means to them and this year we asked the same question to some of the artists and designers that we work with.
Claire McElfatrick:
International Women's Day, to me, means hope for the future of my daughters and the generations to come. I want them to be able to achieve their goals and aspirations in life without limitation or boundaries within their education, workplace and community. I want them to feel empowered, and equal and never have to question any sort of gender bias when pursuing their dreams. Discrimination of all kinds must be stamped out and we should always embrace our differences and promote diversity as it brings so much more to the table!
Find the puzzles designed by Claire McElfatrick here.
Rafaela Mascaro
I always try to represent women and women's daily lives. And this International Women’s Day is a special date to celebrate women and also how they can inspire everybody. Something that brings the representation of women in the world.
My work is a representation of women in everyday life, women who work hard, who take care of their children, who go through difficulties. Real women, I have seen and seen my whole life. I get inspired by them and their stories.
International Women’s Day inspires us to live life passionately, purposefully, and confidently. I think most women's stories and how they overcome their difficulties are great inspiration. Life can be difficult sometimes and I try to get inspired by those overcomes, and with my illustrations I can show that everything is possible, difficulties are fleeting and woman's matter.
Order Three Women by Rafaela Mascaro here.
Read our interview with Rafaela here.
Trevor Mitchell:
I perceive art & design has always been a rather gender-neutral profession and I’ve probably had more working relationships with female clients and colleagues than male. Our friend Geoff [Product Development Director at Gibsons] being the obvious exception! During my short career in advertising in the 80s I encountered many successful women. And as you will know, many of the subjects I illustrate for jigsaw puzzles are designed to appeal to women, or at the very least have mixed appeal.
My only surviving grandparent was my grandmother who I was close to, and after being married for nearly four decades and having two daughters and a grand-daughter, there has certainly not been any shortage of female influence in my life. I would like my daughters and grand daughter to live in a world of equal opportunity, free of gender bias. I guess every parent and grand-parent’s chief concern is safety, so I’d dearly love to see an end to misogyny. By the time my 3 year old grand-daughter is a young adult I hope she lives in a world that is safer for girls and women, wherever she goes.
Order our puzzles designed by Trevor Mitchell here.
Emma May:
Growing up I've always had a lot of role models in the different creative areas I was interested in, but I never realised that the majority of my role models were men and I never questioned the lack of female role models either. From education to work life, I've always been in a male dominated environment but that's also meant I've never related my gender to what I have the ability to achieve. That's what made my journey so magnetic when I was developing and releasing Quirk! on my own.
What International Woman's Day means to me is the awareness of celebrating women's achievements. So that there is more female representation for the next generation and there is more belief in what they can achieve because there's someone out there like them doing just that!
Read our exclusive interview with Emma here.
Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls
At Gibsons we have partnered with the team behind the internationally bestselling book series Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls to produce two jigsaw puzzles and a card game, appealing to girls and women of all ages. The original stories tell true tales of heroic women, from Elizabeth I to Serena Williams, and celebrates queens, activists, scientists, and artists throughout history. With our strong female presence in HQ, and constantly inspired by our own gang of Rebel Girls (the daughters of some of the team), we are proud to encourage everyone to learn more about the incredible achievements of women across history.
This International Women’s Day we are excited to offer the first 250 customers who place an order on our website a free copy of our Card Game for Rebel Girls where players must build a team of extraordinary leaders, warriors, pioneers, creators and champions. Simply place an order on the 8th March and a free game will be added to your delivery!
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