Mitra Shahsavand
Mitra Shahsavand
Design Director at Mitra Shahsavand Design Studio
“When you truly know you deserve better, don’t settle for less.”
How did you get started in the advertising field?
I started my professional experience in the branding field and for years I was busy developing brands; then there was a time my clients decided my knowledge about their newly developed brands makes me the perfect candidate for their brand launch campaigns. That’s how I started.
What is it like being a woman business owner?
While It’s good to be in charge, you have to be prepared for some hard work. I don’t have children so I keep admiring women who run a family and manage their own business at the same time. Most of the time I leave my office very late at night and most weekends I have to work. But when my work gains recognition, or when a brand which I created starts living and breathing in the city I tell myself it was all worth it.
On business and administration front, practically, I don’t think I faced greater challenges because I’m a woman. However, when it comes to clients it’s a little bit different. Particularly with some organizations, I sensed they are less comfortable with women. This has never been said directly but I felt it many times. It’s interesting to note most of my clients are top marketing executive women. Many business owners still hesitate handing their business to a woman; and the amount of energy you need to spend to gain their trust, is exhausting.
I overcame this issue by surviving long enough in the business and creating a good name for myself. Today, I don’t need to prove myself as much as I did before; but this is a pathway which many women business owners face in the early stages of their business.
Did you ever hit the glass ceiling? If so, how did you break through it?
The glass ceiling has always been there; it’s crucial to create awareness and talk publicly about it. Specially for younger generation, it’s discouraging and frightening. That’s why we need to step in and support them. I have to say Iranian female designers are working hard to create awareness and we are in a much better place than we were five or ten years ago.
In my early years, female designers weren’t taken seriously. We were working tirelessly and quietly but there was a game and we weren’t part of it. In the judging panels for awards ceremonies, you didn’t see women, in TV talks we weren’t invited, in universities only a few women were working as faculty members. Even when talking about design history, somehow female names would vanish. If you wanted to name the best designers in the field, you hardly mentioned a female designer. There was a common belief that women are not good for top management positions.
In my personal experience, this made me think this is normal; I actually believed there is no point for me to step in. Am I good, strong, knowledgeable enough? As a result of this mindset, many of us became less vocal about what we are doing. The quieter we became, the easier it was to deny our presence. But some of us tried hard to push forward, and let’s not forget those male colleagues who helped us to push through.
Not so long ago, a history book was published to introduce the best designers of the recent century in Iran. Many of our best female designers were missing in the book, in fact there was only 4 or 5 women in the list. Women designers took action by creating an Instagram page called “iranianwomenofgraphicdesign” and introduced hundreds of brilliant works all done by female graphic designers.
In 2019 I had an opportunity to express my frustration in my work. I was appointed by Iranian Graphic Design Society, to design a visual system for the World Design Day. The theme introduced by Ico-D was “Women in Design”. My approach, showed exactly how I felt through the years: “Women in design are hardly visible”. I designed a system based on parallel lines which made reading difficult, and behind those lines I put my messages. The viewers needed to narrow their eyes and pay attention to what was going on behind those lines. Even the trophies given to three senior women designers, followed this pattern and their names were hidden behind long parallel lines.
Today I can confidently say that we have a voice; women are present in all talks and judging panels and exhibitions. However, we are working hard to make sure the next generation will have an easier experience than ours.
What do you do as a female business owner to try and help other women in the field?
I try to use my voice whenever it’s needed. When a couple of years ago, I was invited to take part in a judging panel, I realized I am the only woman designer in the panel, so I asked the organizers to create a balance and ask other women to join. In my office, most of my colleagues are women, and I make sure their salaries are not anything less than their male counterparts or their promotion is based on their performance and not their gender.
Discrimination against women is a silent and creepy thing. Sometimes, even those people who are performing it, are not aware. As I said earlier, talking about the problem can help. The most rewarding part for me is that many young female professionals tell me, my survival in this field has been inspiring for them. That’s what keeps me motivated.
What advice do you have for women trying to break into advertising especially in countries where it is not common for women to work in advertising or creative fields?
It might come as a surprise but in my country, it is very common for women to work in advertising fields. In fact, I think women outnumber men in advertising. There is no data, but from what I see in every design or advertising agency, there are a significant number of women involved. Unfortunately, you don’t see as many women in top management positions.
My advice for those who are trying to break into advertising, applies to both women and men. They have to be prepared for a rigorous but rewarding job with tough deadlines. They have to be patient, flexible, precise and fast. Not only they need a thorough knowledge about design but they will have to learn a lot about marketing. There is going to be long hours, weekend work and a traffic or account manager on their back. They are going to enjoy brainstorming with wonderful creative people and experience that aha moment. They are going to create a vision, and bring it to life. They will have a purpose and they will be able to live it. They will see their work up on billboards in the city, on TV, in the supermarkets where they go for shopping, or even on award shows and they will tell themselves: “It was all worth it”.
My only advice for women is “When you truly know you deserve better, don’t settle for less”.
Likewise, what advice do you have for women looking to start their own business?
Be fearless! Go for it! You will know when it’s time. Prior to starting my own business, I was working in an advertising agency and one day I simply decided I want to have my own business. I didn’t have enough savings and by quitting my job I wasn’t even sure how long I can survive on my own. I had one of those fearless moments when I just had to jump in the deep. I started working from home and before 6 months I was working in my own office and had two employees.
It’s crucial to know it’s not always going to be easy and enjoyable; be prepared and don’t get discouraged if you are facing a crisis. There is a solution for every problem.
What is the trickiest part of working around restrictions in advertising to still get your message across as well as the most rewarding part?
For me, restrictions are challenges; and challenges show where you position yourself in the creative field. Sometimes you are working on an FMCG package with marketing rules and regulations; and sometimes you work in a country which has certain restrictions. I remember many years ago, I was working for a global medical brand. We had these monthly meetings with brand representatives from across the globe. It was fascinating to see how each country had their own regulations for branding and advertising medical products.
In 2020 I designed a brand for haircare products. In Iran we can’t show women’s hair for advertising; you can imagine how confusing it was for us to advertise a haircare product without showing hair. It was like advertising toothpaste without showing shiny healthy teeth. I usually write stories for each brand before designing it. These stories are emotional and keep the design and marketing team together. In this particular brand story, there was a fairy who changed to a different animal every single day. I took those animals from the brand story and created hair for my models. The project was shortlisted for many awards internationally and won trophies from New York festivals and Gerety Awards. The important point is to not see restrictions as burdens, we can pass right through them.
What is your favorite campaign that you have worked on and why?
Last year, we designed a series of branding campaigns for a well-known sanitary pad in Iran: ‘My Lady’. One of those campaigns was a part of an event where an ultra runner woman, plans to conquest Mount Damavand four times in a row. We had extra huge billboards all over town, showing a woman running towards Mount Damavand. It was a joy to watch.
“The sound of her presence. Every morning, a woman salutes the sun, a woman sings for the grains, a woman weaves the threads of life, a woman fights, a woman hugs, dances, and shouts out loud…We know that together we’re stronger and more visible… with one voice, one pathway, and one destiny.”
These series of campaigns, were designed as part of the brand’s long term branding communications under their brand slogan: ‘Unfold yourself’. The first campaign was called ‘The thread’ we made a video and showed how what women do is connecting them to other women with an invisible thread. The second part was running, and the most recent one was about women’s voice: ‘The sound of Women’s presence’. I loved working on these inter connected campaigns.
What inspires you and your work?
I get my inspirations from everyday life; from news, scientific facts or a conversation I’m having with a friend. I also enjoy immersing in my inner world of intuitions. Meditation and spiritual practice have always helped me to find new ideas.
I also love a good story, be it a friend or a neighbor telling me about their day, or a great classic novel, or even children’s books. Advertising and branding, are both related to people, to life. It’s fascinating to study facts about life and then apply them to my work.
Are there any podcasts/books etc that you recommend to someone entering the creative field or for other female business owners?
There is a Harvard Business Review podcast I recently discovered: “Women at Work”. Another podcast which I love is the “Creative Confidence Podcast” by IDEO U. IDEO also has a wonderful book shop on its website; with a great collection of books on creativity and design thinking.
In early years of my career, I read a couple of short books by Paul Arden; they are very easy to read and very insightful. “It’s not how good you are, it’s how good you want to be” and “Whatever you think, think the opposite”.
“The Medium is the Massage” is another classic which I still read once in a while. These classics maybe obvious choices but are best for beginners.
For those who are about to start their own business, “How to run & run a successful multi-disciplinary design company” by Marcello Minale is still very inspiring. It belongs to a different era; which makes it even more exciting .
How did you keep your business together during COVID?
Me and my team worked from home for almost two years. It was very important for me to safeguard my team and their family’s health. So, while in most of other places, people had to be present, I kept our distant working on for almost two years.
One of us would come to the office every week to water the plants but for most of our time in COVID we didn’t leave home. We had a group on WhatsApp which connected all of us together, then there was the Writers group, Art Directors group, Account group and we had Skype meetings which I am happy is over now because I found it exhausting! If we had a birthday, we sent birthday gifts right to their homes and tried to surprise them by pretending we need an urgent Skype meeting!
Everyday we had a 9 AM Skype meeting to kick start the day and a 5 PM one to conclude everything. We used a server to upload and download files, etc. I’m sure you all been doing that. Happy it’s now over and we are back in our office.
What is your biggest challenge?
To be my true self. There are big values and small ones for every person. It’s easy to follow the big ones, the red lines; but when it comes to small values you can easily miss certain things or compromise them. It’s a constant challenge to remind myself my values can not be compromised. Standing for your values often comes at a price; but the self satisfaction reward is always bigger.
How do you find clients and what is your favorite part of the process?
I usually don’t look out for clients; most of the time, I have too much to do that I cannot accept new projects. I know that if my business grows too big, I may lose touch with my clients and projects, so I always try to keep it in a manageable size.
In recent years, I have been working with a holding that owns many brands. I’m also working with other brands from time to time. It’s interesting that while I didn’t intend this, since I’ve done some empowering projects for women, I get asked to do a lot of projects for women or related to women.
I have two favorite parts in the process: the beginning and the end! When I start my projects, I usually try to find the “BIG IDEA” which involves many brainstorms with wonderful people and when we finally find the Big Idea it’s ecstatic. The other favorite part is at the end when everything finally comes together and you have a clear picture.