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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Capability-Building Series

Two adult males working with whiteboards and visualized ideas.

Capability-Building Series

Our Capability-Building Series addresses the real challenges teams face when trying to innovate.

Our Navigator and Practitioner programs complement one another and combine expert instruction with work-integrated learning, ensuring participants not only learn new approaches but can implement them immediately.

Together, these programs do more than build skills. They build capability, alignment, and momentum.

PROGRAMS

Navigator Program: For Leaders 

A peer-based learning experience that enables leaders to develop a shared understanding of design to navigate complexity, de-risk decisions, lead systemic transformation, and align around a vision for growth.

Practitioner Program: For Teams

Intended for teams responsible for executing strategy—product teams, innovation leads, designers, researchers, and others—the Practitioner Program equips individuals to apply strategic methods in high-stakes, real-world contexts.

Made for Your Organization

  • Both programs are offered on-site at your organization, at ID’s Mies van der Rohe campus in Chicago, virtually, or in blended formats.
  • We co-create learning objectives and outcomes aligned with your organization’s performance metrics and transformation initiatives.
  • We also offer team-based coaching, follow-up workshops, and cohort engagement opportunities to support ongoing development.

CONTACT

Request More Information

Email us at id-academy@illinoistech.edu or complete the form for general questions or partnership inquiries.

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