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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EOYS 2024

Boundless: Design Beyond Limits

Today’s designers face new challenges at an unprecedented scale. At a moment of limitless technology and creativity, unknown frontiers ask us to imagine a world of reinvention. To rise to the occasion, designers must embrace emergent, evolving, and responsible practices that challenge traditional conventions.

“Boundless: Design Beyond Limits” invites us to discover new approaches through concepts, explorations, and design-driven solutions. This exhibition reveals a landscape of interconnected actions, systems, and tensions that can yield infinite possibilities.

Through the approaches of divergence, convergence, emergence, and resurgence, we can realize design’s impact and press towards the brink of new possibilities. By charting new courses at an accelerated rate, we can transform today into an imaginative and truly boundless tomorrow.

The cover image for the 2024 End of Year Show exhibition is titled
“
Designers must be ready to embrace technology in its fullest capacity. We cannot be satisfied with invention alone — instead, designers need to translate and apply new technologies towards transformative futures. At ID, we focus on design that impacts society and culture to solve the world’s biggest challenges. The 2024 End of Year Show is a testament to the many ways our students actively engage in this work as they embark as tomorrow’s future leaders.
—Anijo Mathew, Dean, Institute of Design
Background image for the 2024 End of Year Show exhibition. The background is light pink, and there are various visual elements in red, orange, and turquoise colors surrounding the title and subtitle.

Currently on View

Student work from “Boundless: Design Beyond Limits” is currently on view through Spring 2025.

Visit us at ID to see our students’ creativity, collaboration, and achievements from the 2023-24 academic year at the Kaplan Institute, 2nd Floor.

Diverge

Endless possibility | Diverge

Separation, deviation, or branching out; to move or extend in different directions from a common point.

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Converge

Driving solutions | Converge

Approaching limits; ideas, opinions, or paths coming together to reach a point of agreement or alignment.

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Emerge

Coming into view | Emerge

Becoming apparent, often from obscurity; arising or developing new concepts, technologies, or movements gaining prominence over time.

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Resurge

Renewing ideas | Resurge

Revival after a period of decline, inactivity, or obscurity; a sudden or notable increase in something previously diminished or subdued.

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