Ladies, Wine & Design

Ladies, Wine &
a bit of Design

A conversation series inspired by Jessica Walsh
Hosted by LWDBK.

A monthly event series with a small group of creative ladies hosted by Mila Thomsen and Amanda Rios. We’ll wine, dine, and have casual conversations and workshops on a wide variety of topics relating to creativity, business, and life. If you’re a female student or creative and would like to join, click here.

If you'd like to host us in your space, share your craft, be a mentor, or lead a discussion, please do get in touch.

October 27th, 2020 Fast Chats, Virtual

In collaboration with Ladies, wine and Design Nashville and Nashville Design Week.
Opening Soon

May 21st, 2020 Mind Matters, Virtual

We are continuing our virtual event series with a much needed focused on mental health and wellness for creative professionals. Join us on May 21st at 6.30 EST for an up close and personal talk with three amazing women who will share their stories and expertise on how to battle anxiety and stay creative during a pandemic.
Speaker lineup:
Vanessa Bennett, Erin Assenza, Meryl Vedros.

March 26th, 2020 Fast Chats, Virtual

We have all had to make tremendous changes to our lives in the past few weeks. But it’s in these tough times that we understand the importance of community and togetherness. While we have had to hit pause on our monthly in-person events we have been inspired by seeing our community and the world do something incredible together, stay home.

February 20th, 2020 Designing Creative Teams

How do you cast a strong team of creative professionals? Wait?! Was this covered in design school? Next Thursday, we’ll host a panel discussing the planning and thinking that goes into designing a well-rounded creative team. Our accomplished panelists will share stories from their personal experiences. We’ll discuss successes, failures, the differences between good friction and bad friction on a team. 
Speakers lineup:
Chelsea Atwell, Scher Foord, Errol King.

January 29th, 2020 Let's Party!

Clear your calendar because we are kicking off a new decade! Join us next Wednesday, January 29th for a night meeting your fellow LW&D-BK community, nerding out on design, and sipping on some wine. Who knows, maybe you’ll meet your creative bff, an accountability buddy a future colleague or even mentor.
If you are feeling a little shy there are special activities to get you in the mood.

November 20th, 2019 Designing For Impact

As the designers, more and more of us are questioning how we can use our expertise and careers to have a direct impact on the biggest issues of our time like climate crisis, social impact, and political movements. This conversation will look at how designers can use their power to drive change – and our panelists will discuss how they've structured their design careers to be purpose-driven.
Speakers lineup:
Katie Klencheski, Esme González Pillado, Abby Grimshaw.

October 23rd, 2019 Business Transformation

“Design is the silent ambassador of your brand.” –Paul Rand

How do you create an impactful change for your client or brand? We'll discuss how to leverage design strategies to transform a business. Join us on October 23rd at IBM iX for an evening discussing how big brands reinvented themselves and their path to success. 
Panel speakers include: Hilary Greenbaum, Jennifer Hatfield, Data Oruwari, Rania Svoronou and Shirley Morales.

September 10th, 2019 Take a Huge Risk

We've partnered with Huge for the month of September and invited some of the boldest women we know to dive into the topic of risk-taking. We'll hear about how these panelists changed the trajectory of their careers.

The panel will be followed by breakout sessions where attendees can pledge to take a risk themselves. So, bring your ideas, fears, and questions. Hope to see you there!

August 21st, 2019 The Art of Type

LW&D Manhattan and Brooklyn chapters have combined forces for the month of August. Join us for an evening focused around type and lettering at the Type Directors Club. To RSVP sign up for one of six workshops exploring type illustration, type design, digital lettering, and storytelling through type and more… And always, there will be wine!

Get to know our featured guests by reading more about them below: Alanna Flowers, Cassie Gonzales, Karolina Lach, Keila Gonzales, Lynne Yun and Sindy Ethel.

July 16th, 2019 Designing For Everyone

"We shouldn't design games for gamers, we should design games for people."

Join us for an evening at DOTS focused on inclusivity in game design. We will discuss what it takes to design casual games for a wide audience. How do we make aesthetic design choices that appeal to all? What place do games have in society? Get answers to these and more questions around game design from our industry speakers: Sandra Honigman, Jaclyn McKay, Chao Jin, Kate Stevenson and Kati Nawrocki.

May 16th, 2019 Freelance Not Free

Do you daydream of being your own boss? Are you currently an experienced freelancer with wisdom you’d love to pass onto others? Do to simply just want to dabble in projects outside of a full-time job?

Join us for a discussion about freelancing, lead by our very own LWD Brooklyn co-founders, Amanda Rios, and Mila Thomsen.

April 18th, 2019 Finding Your Voice

You have the talent, work ethic, and skills to express your point of view. What’s next in finding your creative voice?

Join us on April 18th, with NYC-based illustrators: Marly Gallardo, Dana Tanamachi and Amber Vittoria. These creative professionals have made an impact with their work, and we are thrilled for you to meet them. Learn how they honed their unique styles to put their voices out into the world. We’ll hear about how their creative point of view has driven them to start their own studios, build up a client base, and share brand stories. We hope to see you for some inspiring conversations, and always, wine.

March 15th, 2019 Fast Chats

Fast Chats, our most popular event is back this March!

Join us for an evening of rotating, short conversations with 5 creative ladies who are forces in their respective industries. Bring those burning questions and get answers, and who knows, maybe make some lifelong connections. Speaker guests: Hollie Fraser, Creative Director at MMC and founder of Books on the Move Global; Eva Goicochea
Co-Founder of Maude and Thinker Watches; Irene Pereyra co-founder of the Brooklyn based design studio Anton & Irene; Idil Ibrahim is an award winning filmmaker; J Faye Yuan,
Writer, Producer, Editor.

February 27th, 2019 Side Hustle

These days, it seems like everyone dreams of launching a side hustle: a creative space for you to pursue the projects you want to see in the world, when you want to do them, and how you want to do them.

So, what’s holding you back?

This edition of Ladies, Wine, & Design, hosted by Kickstarter, will focus on turning your side hustle dreams into a reality. We’ll discuss common fears–including pushing through creative blocks, finding funding, maintaining motivation, and self-promotion–that prevent projects from moving forward. Come meet other female designers who are also launching side hustles, and talk with Kickstarter staff who will share tips and tools for getting started.

January 23rd, 2019 But First, Me

2019 has come with a full force along with resolutions and long lists of to-dos for the year. If you are like us, you probably already feel overwhelmed and still a little exhausted from the holidays.

So we decided instead of trying to pump ourselves up and make big plans to conquer the world, we would stop, take a deep breath, and look inward. We would focus on our mental health and wellness first. It’s something we often forget or de-prioritize as creatives.

On January 23rd, join us for our first 2019 event “But First, Me”, when three amazing mental health and wellness coaches will take us on a journey to a more balanced, fulfilling life.

First we will open with a discussion around BURNOUT, how to recognize it and how to prevent it. Then we will split into groups and have smaller workshops with one of the speakers.

November 8th, 2018 Aligning Expectations and Measuring Results

What is a creative brief? Why do you need one? When do you write one? Learn how to improve how you collaborate with your clients to develop smartly-crafted creative briefs that achieve results. Creative briefs are typically repetitive, long-winded, over reaching, and, at worse, a manifestation of corporate politics and insecurities. The best creative briefs provide a clear set of expectations and define measurable objectives to guide the progress and success of a project. As an added benefit, the creative brief and the development process can express and support the value and power of thoughtful, strategic design in achieving creative and results-driven solutions.

October 24th, 2018 Battling Creative Block

Are you stuck? Uninspired? Creatively burned out? Are you terrified of presenting in front of your peers?

Welcome to a night on battling the creative block.

We have partnered up with THAT [Technology, Humans & Taste] to bring you Dim Sum. We will do some low stakes aggressive brainstorming and exercise our creativity to come up with some unexpectedly bad ideas. It’s gonna be great.

What is Dim Sum Club?
Dim Sum Club is a weekly creative problem solving meet-up hosted by THAT. Each week the process stays the same; the members, truths, problems and concepts change. It's a bite-size of our more in-depth creative process called Dim Sum.

September 20th, 2018 Letterpress to Impress

We have been generously invited by Bessie Anderson of B.Impressed Shop for a tour and workshop at Woodside Press in Brooklyn’s Navy yard. Bessie combines her experience of working with 2D and 3D type to design anything from logos to websites. At this event, we will learn the nuances of working with metal type and how it has influenced the typography we use today, as well as how we can still pull inspiration to improve our skills and add a hand-felt touch. For all of you print fanatics, we will also run a few prints through the press to take home.

September 8th, 2018 Reflect & Project

Join us for an easy 3 hour hike (+1 hour for lunch) in the beautiful surroundings of Cold Springs.
We will meet at 10:30 at Grand Central and return by approximately 6 pm. We will be discussing the overarching topic: Reflect and Project! As fall approaches, Mars goes direct and puts us all back into doing mode, we want to take the time to reflect in nature and the company of brilliant ladies and create a couple of personal action statements. This shared journey will be fun and hopefully, leave us all grounded and inspired! This walk and discussion will be guided by Piera Wolf and
Marianne Aerni.

August 23rd, 2018 Designing for Lady Parts

When you have to go see the gyno do you cringe and think of 1 million ways the experience could be improved? Who designed the speculum anyway?

Well, you’re not alone my loves. Not only do most women fear going to a healthcare provider (or not have access to one) but the women of Tia have decided to do something about the situation. We’ll be hosting a panel with the design minds behind Tia, the first health experience built for women by women.

June 27th, 2018 Beyond Design

What really goes into building a memorable brand identity or creating a successful campaign? A creative brief that seems like a simple design ask could involve months of research, strategy, writing, and planning--before even getting to the design stage. And when you run your own agency, you must become a Jill-of-all-trades.

Two amazing female leaders join us for our Beyond Design discussion:
Katie Klencheski, founder of SMAKK Studios, and
Maria Bonello, UX designer and strategist.

May 23rd, 2018 Ready, Set, Launch

Join us as we discuss how to transform ideas into successful products. We will be joined by two talented female entrepreneurs who will walk us through their launch process, struggles, and success stories.

Eva Goicochea and Dina Epstein are the co-founders of Maude, a premium line of adult sex products. In addition to Maude, Eva has launched Tinker, a line of clean and timeless customizable watches. Dina, on the other hand, is the face behind Clark & Madison, a line of sustainably sourced artisanal leather goods.

April 19th, 2018 Diversity in Design

Join us for a discussion on diversity in design. This important topic will be lead by a powerful line up including: Jennifer Rittner, Tahnee Pantig, and Ajay Revels, and Celine Semaan Vernon. These women will share their research and experiences on breaking down marginalization. We hope you'll leave more inspired than ever to support diversity and inclusiveness in the creative industry.

March 29th, 2018 Flaunt Your WIP

Bring a piece you are working on and talk it out. It could be a poster, a website, a sketch, a post-it with ideas. . . anything at all. There’s only one rule: it has to be unfinished. Who knows, perhaps that piece you have been stuck on for months will finally come to fruition.

February 28th, 2018 Fast Chats

Join us for an evening of short conversations with 5 creative ladies who are forces in their respective industries. Bring those burning questions and get answers, and who knows, maybe make some lifelong connections. The talented ladies leading discussions include: Jess Williams, Noemie Le Coz, Kara Cohen, Ilana Kruger, and Yannell Rodriguez

January 31st, 2018 2018 Kickoff

Come wine, dine, and talk design with your favorite community of creative women. We’re hosting our first event of the year at One Bedford. This will be a casual evening of schmoozing and boozing (shop talk optional). The Haiku Poets are also joining us to create real time haiku poems for our attendees.

Jessica Walsh noticed that she is one of very few women creative directors. She believes that we can change that through mentorship and championing others' work. Here are some things that inspired her, as well as our own take on the matter, if you want to learn more:

What's Your Pay Gap?
Brené Brown on The Power of Vulnerability
Amy Cuddy: Your body language shapes who you are
This is the city with the largest percentage of women-led startups (spoiler, it's Brooklyn!)
Exploring Gender and Compensation
Where Are All The Women Creative Directors?
Where are the black designers?

Numbers show that there's a very small percentage of women leading the creative industry despite the overwhelming evidence that diversity is directly correlated to an organization's success. However, we find the people we're inspired by most are often other talented ladies. Here are a few women we admire, work with, or have our eyes on! Email us if you want to nominate someone for this list.