Why Women in Design Are Still Earning Less — and How It Adds Up Over a Year

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• Why Women in Design Are Still Earning Less — and How It Adds Up Over a Year

• Instantly Become Anyone with Real-Time AI Face Magic

• Quick Tips

• 5 AI design tools

Read time: 4 minutes

Today’s AI Design Breakthrough

Why Women in Design Are Still Earning Less — and How It Adds Up Over a Year

TL;DR

The gender pay gap in design isn’t just about unequal pay—it’s compounded by unpaid labour, slower promotions, and culture that undervalues women’s work. Unless studios change their practices now, the “free work” will keep dragging progress backwards.

Short Paragraphs

Maher argues that while laws for equal pay exist, they don’t fix the hidden structural issues in creative industries: fewer women in senior roles, bias in promotion and negotiation, and cultural frameworks that make unpaid or under‑paid contributions invisible.

The article outlines five actionable steps for studios of any size to start closing the gap today: elevate women into decision‑making roles, engage external HR or mentoring support, publish transparent salary bands, treat part‑time and parental‑leave roles equitably, and formalise training/mentorship programmes.

Maher emphasises that the problem isn’t simply women choosing less paid roles, but the combination of unseen work, undervalued time, and lack of visibility for the roles that do most of the “care” or “design thinking” labour in studios.

Highlights

• The pay gap isn’t fully explained by part‑time work or career breaks—80%+ comes from promotion, negotiation bias, and cultural blind spots.

• One key fix: pay transparency—sharing salary bands brutally reduces negotiation disadvantage.

• Flexibility and parental leave roles must not be sidelined—women in part‑time or returning from leave often miss advancement though they carry full creative value.

Tool Spotlight

Instantly Become Anyone with Real-Time AI Face Magic

Tool of the Day: Swapface.org

Swapface.org lets you perform real-time face swapping on videos using AI — all without needing a GPU or installing heavy software.

Scenario

Use this tool when creating video content, concept reels, or prototypes where you want to test or present different personas or characters — without hiring actors or editing frame-by-frame.

Value

• Enables real-time face swaps directly in your browser, no GPU needed

• Ideal for prototyping video personas, character testing, or fun content creation

• Simple interface designed for non-technical creatives

How it works

Upload a video or start your webcam. Choose a face image to swap in. Swapface.org runs the AI model in-browser and overlays the selected face onto your video stream in real time — no rendering delays, no downloads. It mimics facial expressions and head movements for a surprisingly smooth effect.

Prompt of the Day

Today's Style: Hyper-Pop Realism

Example:

Quick Tips

Title: "Easily Remove Backgrounds with Canva’s Background Remover Tool"

Tip: Use Canva’s Background Remover to instantly isolate subjects for clean and professional designs.

How to Use Canva’s Background Remover:

1. Upload Your Image: Drag and drop the image you want to edit onto your Canva project.

2. Select the Image: Click on the image to activate the editing toolbar.

3. Remove the Background:

   • Click Edit Image in the toolbar.

   • Select Background Remover (available for Canva Pro users).

   • Canva will automatically detect and remove the background.

4. Refine Your Edit (Optional):

   • Use the Erase or Restore brushes to fine-tune the cutout, especially around edges.

5. Replace or Customize: Add a new background, leave it transparent, or overlay it on other design elements.

Recommended Tools Today

Image to Prompt: Generate AI prompts instantly from any image.

Easycart: Build high-converting one-click checkouts in minutes.

AI PPT Maker: Create stunning presentations instantly with AI.

MusicMuse: Generate songs instantly with AI music creation.

Storebuild: Launch your e-commerce store with suppliers in 5 minutes, free.

Wrap-Up

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