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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Students Recognition

Core77 Honors ID Student’s Menstrual Equity App

A Technological Solution for Access and Inclusion

July 6, 2023

Core77 Design Awards

Core77 has announced the honorees of its twelfth annual Design Awards. Among them is ID student Eva M. Althaus (MDM 2024) for her Blue Lotus app, which aims to create equitable access to menstrual hygiene products.

“
I discovered most users correlated menstruation shopping with emotionally charged experiences, like confusion, shame, and inconvenience. Blue Lotus understands the user's menstruation journey and provides solutions that support access and psychological safety through smart vending machines that deliver a faster and impersonal pick up experience.
—Eva M. Althaus (MDM 2024)

Created in ID adjunct faculty Mike Oren‘s Evidence-Based Design Course, the app addresses menstrual equity by:

  • Using technology and a customization algorithm to transform how users shop for menstrual products. Users can create a profile, access recommendations, and pick up products at local vending machines. This approach allows users to avoid the overwhelming options of complex packaging and the emotionally charged experience of in-store purchasing.
  •  Lowering costs and improving quality through partner guarantees.
  •  Increasing inclusion by considering the needs of all menstruators regardless of gender.

The app also promotes period justice by facilitating donations within the app and giving users to request financial support when purchasing products.

“
When Eva came back from her interviews with the idea of ‘making shopping for menstrual products as neutral as buying soap,’ it was clear that she had landed on an idea that would really resonate emotionally with people who menstruate and could have a positive societal impact.
—Mike Oren, Head of Design Research, Klaviyo & ID Adjunct Faculty

The Core77 Design Awards celebrates the richness of the design profession as well as the insight and perseverance of its practitioners. Dedicated to excellence and inclusivity, the program offers both students and professionals the opportunity to promote their best work on a global scale across 23 distinct design disciplines.

The Blue Lotus (formerly Bloom) app can be viewed on the Core77 website along with other honorees.

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