In 2026, after nearly 90 years, the Institute of Design was folded into Illinois Tech's School of Design & Society.
This website is an archive of the impactful and inspirational work produced by the ID community before that transition.

László Moholy-Nagy opened the New Bauhaus in Chicago in 1937, treating design as a discipline that was teachable, testable, and consequential. Nine decades on, its scope had widened from the things people use to the systems they depend on: hospitals, government agencies, classrooms, supply chains, digital platforms. Along the way, ID community members developed the published research, methods, and frameworks that designers rely on every day.

Chief among them is human-centered design: close attention to how people actually live, and advocacy for what that research reveals. It shaped designers who are comfortable with complexity and ambiguity: curious, rigorous, inclusive, and stubbornly optimistic about design's ability to change the systems that shape our lives.

To every one of them, who taught, studied, built, critiqued, and stayed late in the studio: thank you, and keep designing.

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Cities Technology

Buy Locally, Connect Locally

July 5, 2010

Assignment

The objective of this class is to introduce concepts of Digital Media to Foundation students. Through three modules based on time, the class will enable students to engage with different digital media tools and artifacts. At the end of the class, students will be proficient in digital media and interaction design tools and methodology.

Synopsis

This concept shows how we can encourage people to foster local activities, support local economies as well as get rewarded through a mobile application and digital platform.

Problem

Many products and services are not manufactured locally or even in the same country, but so many small businesses that dedicate their time and energy in designing, crafting, building and making from furniture, food, clothes, coffee, banking, etc. locally and people are not aware of.

Proposed User Experience

This concept helps people connect directly digitally and physically. Putting our money back into the same community will ultimately stimulate cities and regions facing economic decline.

The app allows people to locate local stores that carry local products and services. People can also scan products that they find and add them to a growing database. In addition, people can compare prices, provide ratings and find where the products are made to help them make the most informed purchasing decision.

LCC Honorable Mention: Buy Locally, Connect Locally by Tuduyen Annie Nguyen

Faculty

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Students

Tuduyen Annie Nguyen
Salvatore G. Cilella