Women In Industrial Design

Congratulations to our dear friends at Advanced Design, we cannot wait for their SquareOne (SQ1) conference! Taking place this week from October 6-8th, and trust us, you do not want to miss out. 🖤

“Square One is back as an all new digital experience, allowing you to truly connect with the global design community. We believe the best way to connect design students and professionals is by putting them all in the same (and for now, virtual) room. SQ1 brings together the best of the industrial design industry for three days of seminars, panels and networking events.

We have a stacked lineup this year including diverse speakers from independent studios to footwear to the pleasure industry, and our keynote, Google’s very own Ivy Ross. We’re bringing you over 16 hours of live, interactive content, along with the professional connections you will foster throughout the duration of the conference.”


Meet the incredible speakers!

Ivy Ross of Google, *KEYNOTE SPEAKER*

Alberto Villarreal of Google

Dennice Quijano of Allbirds

Phnam Bagley of Nonfiction Design

Kevin Bethune of ArtCenter + Design Management Institute

Alex Lobos of Rochester Institute of Technology + RIT College of Art and Design

Nicole McLaughlin of Nicole McLaughlin

Pouya Ahmadi of the University of Illinois Chicago

Robert Brunner of Ammunition

Anna Lee of Lioness

Steffany Tran of quip

Josh Owen of Vignelli Center for Design Studies

Cheresse Thornhill, M.S. of adidas + Pensole

Matt Marchand of DICK'S Sporting Goods


Tickets are now live——head over to their website to purchase.

Square One is back as an all new digital experience, allowing you to truly connect with the global design community. We believe the best way to connect design students and professionals is by putting them all in the same (and for now, virtual) room. SQ1 brings together the best of the industrial design industry for three days of seminars, panels and networking events.

We have a stacked lineup this year including diverse speakers from independent studios to footwear to the pleasure industry, and our keynote, Google’s very own Ivy Ross. We’re bringing you over 16 hours of live, interactive content, along with the professional connections you will foster throughout the duration of the conference. Tickets are now live - head over to our website or link in our bio to purchase.

Lucia DeRespinis ♥️ “I went back, and I thought, so what. So I changed; I went for industrial design, and boy am I glad I did.”

Congratulations to the ever-inspiring trailblazer herself, Lucia DeRespinis on her induction to the Industrial Designers Society of America - IDSA Academy of Fellows. We cannot think of anyone more deserving. Above all, Lucia is a beautiful soul whom we love endlessly.

A practicing industrial designer before IDSA was formed in 1965, DeRespinis received her Bachelor of Industrial Design from Pratt Institute in 1952 as one of three women in her graduating class. She built her career in a male-dominated industry. “It was 35 to 40 years before designers really got their names—and before women—finally got their names on what they designed.”

As an icon of industrial design and IDSA member for over 50 years, and for her lasting contributions to the profession and design education, Lucia DeRespinis, FIDSA, more than deserves IDSA’s highest honor of Fellowship. Her body of work is legendary, from the midcentury clocks she designed for George Nelson Associates, to the 1959 American Exhibit in Moscow she designed with a team including Charles and Ray Eames, to the Dunkin' Donuts logo she designed using her five-year-old daughter’s favorite colors.

Lucia was a student of Rowena Reed Kostellow, FIDSA, and Eva Zeisel, carrying their legacies through her own teaching at Pratt. She started as an adjunct professor of industrial design in 1979, at the age of 55, and continued until her retirement in 2020, at the age of 93.

“My first class in industrial design was with Lucia
DeRespinis” writes Debera Johnson, IDSA, professor of industrial design at Pratt Institute. “I was a sophomore at Pratt back in 1986. She pulled the two other women in the class aside and told us, ‘You’re going to have to work harder than the guys.’ She spoke from experience.”

In March, we had the honor of sitting down to talk with Lucia about life experiences. We cannot help but grin, thinking about her legacy. She paved the way for so many women. Watch our interview with Lucia——womenidchi.com/blog