Set up by the creative agency itself, Wundermann Thompson’s refreshing and impactful venture ‘Fund Femme’ aims to become the world’s largest database of women- and non-binary-owned businesses.
Why is it that women hold 80% of spending power but only make up 33% of business owners? Well, to make matters worse, only 3% of venture capitalist funding goes to women-owned businesses. “That’s an imbalance that needs to change,” comments Pip Hulbert, UK CEO of Wunderman Thompson on the founding of Fund Femme – an online database of women- and non-binary-owned businesses. Started by a team within the global marketing agency, the platform hopes to bring these businesses together not only to provide community and solidarity but to raise their profiles and promote them to consumers, so they can discover and shop from these businesses. “We’re appealing to all consumers to think more about who they’re supporting when they shop, and how they can make simple switches for a more balanced economy,” adds Fund Femme co-founder Oriel Irvine-Wells, also a copywriter at the agency.
The branding identity by the agency aimed “to reflect the change we’re trying to make; one that’s bold, fresh and empowering.” Visibility sits at the core of Fund Femme’s interests “so we needed our design to really stand out and cut through the noise wherever it lived.” This led to the chosen bright and “punchy” coral hero colour, and its capitalised, confident typography. The importance of diversity was also communicated through the “bringing together contrasting elements and unifying them, we show them to be two sides of the same coin that when brought together, make us all richer.”
The overall design is accompanied by charming illustrations by Buenos Aires-born, Berlin-based Elda Broglio whose niche is drawing strong, empowered women, which was ideal for the brand’s vision. Broglio says she’s always been inspired by the attitudes of the Latin women she grew up with – her mother, sister and aunts – who are “all very caring but also independent, strong and the kind of people you could not mess around with. That’s why I always try to create images that can transmit the same vibrant energy and strength they gave me.”
Fund Femme is an economic initiative at the end of the day and this focus on breaking the glass ceiling is also communicated through design; “we played around with the double “f” in the middle of the circle to make a coin. This symbolises an alternative femme economy to the one we currently have, one that funds equality, diversity and representation.”
Visit Fund Femme and support its member businesses, or sign up to join its database, here. Also on the Fund Femme brand team was Tyler Hendy, Leda Bartolucci, Stacey Neumann and Nuriya Shoro.
