London College of Communication BA (Hons) Photography graduate alumni Zoë Tynan-Campbell recently got together with friends Harriet Cox and Emma Pearce to form Girls Done Good – a London based collective creating unique and personal gifts that give back. The group donate a percentage of their profits to causes that inspire, educate and empower women.
Placing ethics at the heart of their collective, Girls Done Good donate a percentage of their profits to causes that inspire, educate and empower women, and supported Bloody Good Period for their Valentine’s Day collection launch donating 100% of their profits to the organisation who work to end period poverty.
The collective is made up of Zoë, who is a product designer, teaches ceramics, art and graphics and runs creative workshops; Emma, who is a greetings card designer; and Harriet, who works in design trend forecasting. All cards are designed by Girls Done Good, produced in the UK and printed on recycled luxury 350gsm card.
We spoke to LCC BA (Hons) Photography graduate Zoë to find out what Girls Done Good have cooking up next…
Card designed by Girls Done Good
Congratulations on launching your first collection. What inspired you to create Girls Done Good?
Along with the rest of the world, we saw some things reported in the media in 2017 that made us really uncomfortable, but we also saw how it gave rise to some incredibly inspiring and heart-warming movements.
Particularly the start ups, charities and organisations helping to support and uphold women’s rights and responding to abuses of power. We all work in the creative industries and are passionate about design and making, so it felt natural for us to use our creative skills to do good and help causes that support women.
Card designed by Girls Done Good
Girls Done Good donate a percentage of profits to various causes. How did the partnership with Bloody Good Period come about and why did you choose this cause?
For our launch we chose to support Bloody Good Period, founded by the awesome superwoman Gabby Edlin. We learnt about the incredible organisation and wanted to do our bit to help. We’d also been following the inspiring work of Amika George, the 18-year-old founder of the #FreePeriods movement.
Perhaps because we have all grown up in a position of great privilege, we were shocked at some of the statistics coming out about how much it costs a woman to just live in her body (i.e the tampon tax) and how for some this just isn’t a “luxury” they can afford.
“We just want to help in any way we can to bring these issues into the public consciousness.” — Girls Done Good
People like Amika and Gabby are having great impact through their work and empowering others to speak freely about the female body in a way that before may have been seen as taboo. This is one breakthrough but there is still more to be done.
There’s an incredible network of support building, a really exciting collective consciousness that is having an incredible impact. We just want to help in any way we can to bring these issues into the public consciousness.
Card designed by Girls Done Good
Was the launch as successful as you had hoped?
We have been overwhelmed by the response. We hoped that our friends and family would support us by buying a few cards but actually we sold out in the first week and had to reorder. But more than that, I think it’s all the lovely things people have said and the excitement surrounding the project from complete strangers.
There is a real desire to connect and give back out there, this community of amazing unapologetic badass women has been the best thing to come from Girls Done Good and it’s that we want to foster and grow.
When we chose to launch the Valentine’s Day card collection, we knew that the tradition has become commercialised and people have grown cynical about it, so we wanted to flip it a bit. We still wanted to celebrate love but we wanted it to be about love that supports everyone.
Where do you see ‘Girls Done Good’ going?
It’s early days for us but in the future we want to grow the product line and support as many causes as possible. Long-term, we’d love the products that we sell to fund an outreach programme empowering even more women through creative workshops to build a community and confidence.
There’s something about being absorbed in a creative activity that opens up conversation and there’s also the feeling of achievement and satisfaction when you have created something with your hands.
Card designed by Girls Done Good
What’s been the most challenging part of creating this organisation?
The challenge really was starting. We’d been saying for a while that we wanted to start something, we just had to stop talking about it and do it. Once we had, it moved along quickly and in a matter of weeks we leapt into the unknown and so far it’s been so wonderful. I’m sure there’s a huge learning curve around the corner but we’re ready for it.
What’s been the highlight of it all so far?
Easy. The feeling of sisterhood and the overwhelming sense that if we do this together, we got this!
Can you tell us about an upcoming collaboration and what’s next?
We are currently working on ideas for our next product launch and have lots of plans. We are very excited to keep up the momentum but not ready to reveal the details just yet, but people should follow our story on Instagram @girlsdonegood to stay up to date.
International Women’s Day and Mother’s Day are just around the corner so we’ve got plenty of ladies to celebrate!
Follow Girls Done Good on their Instagram. Their products are available to purchase through their Etsy account.