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.

institute
of desiGn
Search

EOYS 2023

MetaMorphers: Agents of Transformation

As civilization evolves, we face new and unforeseen challenges that are local and global, discrete and interconnected, artificial and organic –  the need for mindful transformation is now greater than ever.

Designers are Metamorphers: agents of transformation. We drive to shift things into the future, bring creations to life, shape actions and attitudes, harness the power of the collective and make sense from the abstract.

In this exhibition, you can observe our intent to transform ecosystems and entities from the way they were before, into something new, more impactful, more sensible and more positive – through the forces of time, creation, causation, unity and structure.

“
In a world obsessed with certainty, future leaders will differentiate themselves with their ability to visualize uncertain futures, prototype potential trajectories, and implement forward momentum. At ID, our students are trained with the tools, methods, and frameworks to do these at scale. The 2023 End of the Year Show is designed to give you a glimpse into what it feels like to be in the middle of such transformations.
—Anijo Mathew, Dean, Institute of Design
Time

Past → Future

Strive to push things forward, from the way they were before, to the way they could be. Critically evaluate legacy systems that influence our everyday actions, and transform them to improve our well-being.

Explore Projects
↗
Creation

Imagination → Reality

Bring life to something that doesn’t yet exist by transforming the imagined into the real. Challenge the notion of what’s possible through cycles of ideation and prototyping.

Explore Projects
↗
Causation

Environment → Action

Modify the invisible forces that shape our individual and collective behaviors, whose impact reverberates horizontally across spaces and vertically across time. Utilize the power of systems thinking to make lasting and meaningful impact in a complex world.

Explore Projects
↗
Unity

Individual → Collective

Harness the power of many by creating inclusive environments and leveraging their collective potential. Generate shared visions and actions through tools of communication and empowerment.

Explore Projects
↗
Structure

Chaos → Order

Mold the abstract to reveal the concrete and make sense from the senseless. Discover music within the noise, reveal beautiful shapes within chaos and find meaning within a sea of confusion.

Explore Projects
↗