eYE ON ALUMNI

Lucia DeRespinis (B.I.D. '53)

A beloved professor in the Industrial Design department, Lucia (née Neumann) DeRespinis, attended post-war Pratt at a time when there were few women in the ID department, and perhaps even fewer female designers in the workplace. She would go on to design tabletop, ceramics, and such mid-century modern staples as clocks for George Nelson Associates, which are still for sale at places like Design Within Reach and the MoMA Design Store. She worked for Nelson on expositions like the New York World’s Fair in 1964 and the American Exhibition in Moscow in 1959, where DeRespinis travelled with heavy hitters like Buckminster Fuller, Charles and Ray Eames, and Pratt’s own Bill Katavolos to show the Soviets their enviable American wares. In 1975, she created the iconic pink-and-orange Dunkin’ Donuts logo based on her five-year-old daughter’s favorite colors.

Text and Production: Bay Brown

Video and Production: Peter Tannenbaum