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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Combatting Climate Misinformation through Design Systems

By Eva Althaus

May 10, 2024

There is no planet B

Climate denial isn’t created by people who ignore climate change evidence

Design possesses the power not only to create new things but also to illuminate matters that are often in the dark. As a design strategist, my task is to observe the world around me and discern how I can utilize these methods to effect positive change.

I developed a comprehensive map of the complex system that propels climate misinformation, revealing a pivotal insight that became the foundation of my thesis: “Climate denial isn’t created by people who ignore climate change evidence. Climate denial and false information are intentional products of a sponsored system.’’ Applying a design strategy approach, I wanted to unravel and address the complexities of this web.

Project Details

  • Class: Introduction to Systems Theory
  • Instructor: Cheryl Dahle