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
Students

In Tension Intention: ID’s End of Year Show

Explore the 2025 EOYS Online or In-Person

May 22, 2025

ID presents the End of Year Show (EOYS) both online and in person for the fourth consecutive year.

Created by ID students, the EOYS showcases the range of student projects completed in the past year. This year’s show explores the transformative power of design in a world charged with both internal and external pressures. This exhibition draws on a broader thematic inquiry, one that resonates through varied approaches by Institute of Design students and prompts the question:

What possibilities emerge when we embrace tension as a generative force?

The show opened on May 16 as part of ID’s End of Year Celebration.

“
More than observers or connectors, we, as designers, are active conductors of transformation. Fueled by curiosity, we embrace the internal and external pressures and inherent tensions of our world—not as barriers but as the very opportunities from which we can create growth. With intention, we build bridges of clarity across these frictions, filling the voids with possibilities to propel humanity. The 2025 End of Year Show explores how we, as designers, navigate the tensions with intention in the sandbox of ID.
—Daniela Vélez (MDes + MPA 2025)

Explore the Online Show

Discover projects by theme or explore the entire 2025 show. From game and product design to behavioral design and social innovation, the online exhibition offers a window into how ID students are responding to real-world tensions with intention and creativity.

 

THEME: FORM

Changing Direction

View All

Novan

Wonderland

Smart Graduate Program Recommender

THEME: FORCE

Shaping Ideas

View All

Journey Within

Common Compass

Joy

THEME: EDGE

Point of Friction

View All

Ventra Redesign

Resonant

Purchasing Decision: Value Misalignment and Tolerance of Value

Visit the Physical Show

Kaplan Institute
3137 South Federal Street, Second Floor
Chicago, IL  60616

Hours: 8am–5pm, Monday–Friday
Inquire at the ID office on the second floor.

The show runs through Spring 2026.

Related Stories

A Long Search, a Serious Decision, and a Gratifying Result

ID-Designed Zenblen Smoothie Kiosks Expand Across Chicago

Capturing the Spirit of ID