SEPTEMBER 25-28, 2025
Vancouver Convention Centre West
In the Studio with
Ranee Lee
Industrial Designer and Associate Professor
Welcome to In The Studio
where IDS asks a series of quick-fire questions to a celebrated member of the design community.
Ranee Lee 郭恩琳 is an industrial designer and an Associate Professor of Industrial Design at OCAD University. She is the founder of DESIGNwith, a design lab for the democratization of design learnings in environmental and social sustainability.
What is the most inspiring object in your studio?
A Rijkswachters robot, made of the wooden crates from when the museum was in construction for a decade.
What is your dream project or collaboration?
DESIGNwith has been a dream project, taking theory to practice.
How many people work in your studio?
Six including myself, but many others who belong in this "creative collective".
Describe your work in three words.
Value. Process. Values.
What’s the one piece of advice you’d give to someone starting their career?
Stay curious What was your first job? Retail at Design Direction in Hazelton Lanes (no longer)
What do you think is misunderstood about the design industry?
!!! that it's about aesthetic and paint colours !!!
Form or function?
Function.
Matte or glossy?
Matte.
As a child what did you want to be when you grew up?
An archeologist.
A book that changed your outlook?
Decolonizing Design by my former Dean [Dr. Dori Tunstall].
What fruit is best designed?
All fruits. Food for nourishment growing trees and getting picked once it's ripened - brilliant!
What’s your favourite thing about your home studio?
Sunlight. It's a room with 3 sides of full windows - from an existing extension of a typical North Toronto home. And because it's on the second floor, I see mostly tree foliage and feels like the treehouse I always wanted.
