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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JoyBite Snack Stand

By Jie An | Elizabeth Graff | Ran Konaka

May 10, 2024

Making snack duty earth friendly

In collaboration with the Food for Climate League, this project seeks to transform snack purchasing behavior at youth sports events. Parents, who are responsible for providing game-day snacks, typically prioritize convenience and peer approval over health. Our challenge is to shift this focus from obligation to care. By launching a series of snack kiosks at youth sports venues, our solution offers bean-based snacks that are healthy, delicious, and planet-friendly. Leveraging behavioral design theory, we aim to nudge parents towards better choices in the presence of their children, promoting climate-smart, plant-based eating as the new standard.

Project Details

  • Class: Applied Behavioral Design
  • Instructor: Ruth Schmidt
  • Project Partner: Food for Climate League
Jie An

Jie An

MDes 2023

Elizabeth Graff

Elizabeth Graff

MDes + MPA 2023

Ran Konaka

Ran Konaka

MDes + MBA 2023