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Ayako Takase, IDSA

Co-founder, Observatory & Associate Professor, Rhode Island School of Design

Ayako Takase is a gender non-conforming Asian mother and parent in the US who is never perfectly here nor there. Ayako is a fluid designer and educator who centers their practice on creating experiences and objects that foster meaningful, emotive connections with people, culture, and audiences. Ayako is a co-founder and director of Observatory, a multi-disciplinary design studio based in Providence, RI. Observatory relies foremost on an intuitive process that allows a natural interplay of form and function in their designs. The studio’s work has earned numerous awards working with leading companies such as Herman Miller, Google, and Procter & Gamble. Ayako is also an Associate Professor at Rhode Island School of Design and graduate program director of the Industrial Design department. She teaches hands-on studios that focus on human-centric design, emotive design, and iterative design.

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Urgent Call for Intersectionality in Design

IDC Presentation

Sept 12, 2022

Main Stage

12:00 PM - 12:30 PM

This session is a proposition, a plea to design professionals, organizations, and industries to intentionally open doors to those different from you. To this day, non-cis-male, non-Euro-centric, BIPOC, LGBTQ+, non-binary & trans, neurodivergent, disabled, anyone who does not fit our mainstream mold, has been gatekept out of our industry -- ironic for a profession that champions empathy. Using the examples of their own 20+ year design career and those who opened doors for them, Ayako invites the audience to reality check the current state of industrial design as a field regarding inclusivity, examine of diversity-hire trends, and share a call to do better.


The audience will learn. . .
- The true meaning of inclusivity in organizations
- The importance and necessity of intersectionality in the industry
- The ripple effects of inclusivity and intersectionality in design fields and beyond, and hopefully walk away with the agency to make changes within their organizations
- Bonus: Their 20+ year design career/projects and those who opened doors and provided the the opportunity to work and grow together

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For 59 years, the Industrial Designers Society of America has worked to advance the practice of industrial design through education, information, community, and advocacy. Our roots stretch to the beginning of the profession, and our members are, and have been, some of the most celebrated industrial designers of all time. Today, we exist as a global voice for industrial design within a broad ecosystem of design disciplines and we celebrate the cross-functional overlap of many creative fields.

Learn more at IDSA.org

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