Design and tech shape the world around us. Every product, service, or content we engage with has passed through the hands of a designer, like Lilian Rothuizen-Timmers, who is a force in the creative space.

When it comes to design, the sky is the limit

Lilian started her career working as a Journalist for the Algemeen Dagblad in Rotterdam. After a short stint as a writer, she swerved into the design field and worked as an Editorial Designer for De Telegraaf — the largest morning newspaper in the Netherlands — where she was the only woman on the sports desk. “Newspapers are typically male-led environments, but the only problem I had there was that I wasn't the biggest fan of sports, so my male colleagues didn't ask me too many questions on specifics. If I'm honest, I think they thought I was bold for joining their team as a woman.” Lilian hasn’t always had pleasant male colleagues by her side. She explained how she once worked alongside a colleague who would make inappropriate remarks about how some of the women dressed in the office. “Unfortunately, I had to sit next to this guy, which made me uncomfortable. He would mention how short some women's skirts were, or he'd be offensive with his comments. He wasn't pleasant to be around. Thankfully he wasn't around for long.” When Lilian became a Designer, she found herself working in more balanced teams of men and women. She had plenty of role models to look up to, as almost all of the Art Directors she came into contact with in print Journalism were women. “I used to want to become an Art Director because it seemed easier to work my way up to with so many women paving the way. It was a role I could aspire to.­” Despite the growing number of women Art Directors in print Journalism, only 11% of women in the space are Creative Directors. Around 70% of young creatives say they have never worked under a woman Creative Director, which shows that representation of women in creative departments still has a long way to go. “It's happening, but slowly. At Foleon, we have both women and men who make up the Creative team, so it's nice to be a part of that trend.”