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Stepping into the College of Visual Arts gallery in St. Paul, it's hard to know which way to look.

The room is covered with images and words all designed to grab your attention, and then intrigue, persuade, educate or seduce you. The show is titled 

, and it celebrates the rather formidable community of female designers here in the state.

, a marketing and communications firm with a strong design edge. She says while most people get what they know about the advertising industry from Mad Men, the past 20-30 years have seen some real changes, especially in smaller design firms.

Knox says the Twin Cities, populated with such retail and food-oriented companies as Target and General Mills, created opportunities for women to take on positions of leadership in marketing departments. She says you'll also find many independent design firms runs by women.

Knox says women create a more sensitive, nuanced message to give a portrait of a brand or product experience.

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 brand logo pops up repeatedly. Knox says the company has an unusual amount of power and influence on the local design scene.

There's also a distinct Minnesota design style, Knox says, which she can often pick out of a line-up of ads.

This is the 7th year the College of Visual Arts has put on a design-based show, and the first year it chose to focus on women in design. Out of the 25 designers it invited to attend, 23 participated in the show. Knox says she's not that surprised:

Still, Knox says, woman have a long way to go to be on an equal stance with men in the advertising industry.

 runs through November 13 at the College of Visual Arts gallery on the corner of Selby and Western in St. Paul.

Arts and Culture

State of the Arts Blog

Marianne Combs

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The College of Visual Arts shows off the female talents in a robust local design scene.

The designing women of Minnesota

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