Women in Industrial Design Launch Event Recap & Replay Link

On March 8, International Women’s Day, Sprout hosted an event that gathered over 200 designers and industry professionals to celebrate the launch of our Women in Industrial Design book project.

Over the course of two years, the Sprout team met with 12 women industrial designers — a diverse group of individuals at all stages of their careers and in various corners of the industry — to hear their experiences navigating an industry where they’ve long been underrepresented. We started this project to generate a holistic and empathetic understanding of the gender gap in the industrial design space, and identify solutions to creating more equitable environments.

With the generous support of our client Kohler Inc., our long-time friends at KeyShot, and our printing partner Shawmut Communications Group, we were able to publish the project in book form to give this important dialog more exposure.

The book launch event began with a portfolio review, where local university students and young professionals gathered for networking, career advice and design chat with the Sprout team and other Boston-area designers.

The highlight of the evening was a panel discussion featuring six of the women featured in the book — Judith Anderson, Depart Chair & Industrial Design Professor at MassArt; Kris Lonergan, Director of Product & Packaging Design; Natalia Baltazar, Industrial Designer at Sprout Studios; Jennifer Linnane, Industrial Design & UX Consultant; Angela Yeh, CEO & Chief Career Strategist of Yeh IDeology; and Betsy Goodrich, Co-Founder and VP of Design at MANTA. The conversation focused on how we can confront the gender-specific archetypes that influence our behavior and create unconscious biases throughout our industry. An audience from across the country tuned in to the livestream event. Click here to watch a replay of that panel discussion.

It was an incredible night, and the conversation and celebration continued until late in the evening as the Boston design community, our friends and family gathered around this important topic. We hope that creating a space for people to come together for candid conversation will lead to more.

Later this month, we will be attending IDSA’s 7th Annual Women in Design Deep Dive, where conference attendees will receive a copy of the Women in Industrial Design book. A limited number of books are now available to order for free, plus $5 shipping if ordered online. Reach out kelsey@sprout.cc to request your copy.