From car wipers to Radium, women designers, scientists and entrepreneurs have made their mark. Despite facing situations that did not make it easy to thrive, women pioneers in design and tech have broken the glass ceiling and inspired many young girls to follow their dreams. Let us take a look at 5 such women whose work created a benchmark in their fields.
Coco Chanel – Fashion Design – Chanel
This French Entrepreneur founded Chanel in 1910. Her fashion brand made the French Modernist style popular and it had a massive influence even on how we dress up today. The company was still young when it had to overcome the economic upheaval of World War 1 and 2.
Chanel handled raw material scarcity problems during the First World War and a bad economy during the Great Depression. Yet, she set up a successful shop in Paris. Chanel limited sales in France to only perfume and jewellery until the end of the war. Despite issues in management and legalities, Chanel saw a resurgence in the 1960s. Her perfume, Chanel no. 5 is still among the best-selling perfumes. Today, Chanel is still a top couture brand and has business operations around the world.
Ramkripa Ananthan – Automobile Design – Mahindra Auto, India
This Indian Automobile Designer is the head of Design at Mahindra and Mahindra. Ananthan has designed SUV models like the Mahindra XUV500 and XUV700. These cars sell pretty well in countries like India, South Africa and Australia as affordable and highly efficient SUVs.
She graduated with a degree in Mechanical Engineering from India and joined the Mahindra company in 1997 as an Interior Designer. As of today, she has led the design team on many cars like the Scorpio and Thar by Mahindra, a company that manufactures some of India’s best off-roaders and SUVs.
Anne Atkins – Graphic Arts and Visual Design in Films – Wes Anderson Films
Everybody who’s anybody may have at some point seen the work of Welsh graphic designer and prop maker Anne Atkins. She designs things like shop signs in films, newspapers that the actors read, fake prison maps and so much more.
Atkins became extremely popular in the field after her work in “The Grand Budapest Hotel” by Wes Anderson was appreciated by designers all over the world.
If you join a design school, it is very likely that the students might have to watch at least one documentary that features Anne Atkins talking about graphic design in films. You know you’ve made an impact in your field when you are part of the classroom syllabus.
Dame Zaha Hadid – Architect – Heydar Aliyev Center, Baku
If you imagine Utopia, the buildings and bridges tend to have flowy shapes, clear blue glass and an undeniably futuristic look. Dame Zaha Hadid, an Iraqi-British architect designed architectural structures that look absolutely utopian. Even bridges and aquariums by Hadid look like monuments.
During her lifetime, she designed iconic structures like Heydar, Aliyev Centre, Sheikh Zayed Bridge, Nordpark Railway Stations and more. If it is true that an artist is remembered by the work they leave behind then Dame Hadid will never be forgotten.
Lenora Porter – Product Designer – Salesforce
Product Design, UX and Systems Design, Lenora Porter is a self-taught designer who has worked with companies like Salesforce, Skillshare and more. Today, she shares her work experience and inspires women of African descent who are interested in fields that integrate design and technology. Follow the career of this young designer if you are interested in Branding and User Experience to learn more about her work and the field.
If you have suggestions for part 2 of inspirational women pioneers in Design and Tech, then let us know in the comments below.
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