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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Sam Farber

Sam Farber

Sam Farber (1924–2013) was an inclusive design pioneer. Most people have held his path-breaking work in their hands, but few know the true story behind it.

In 1988, Farber, a serial housewares entrepreneur, was on vacation with his wife, Betsey. While cooking in the French countryside, the two loathed the uncomfortable handle of their vegetable peeler, which made peeling fruits and vegetables a painful chore. It sparked an “aha” moment that would lead to much more than just a better vegetable peeler.

Sam Farber with OXO peeler

Sam Farber with OXO peeler

The OXO peeler is on ID and Fortune's 2020 list of the

The OXO peeler is on ID and Fortune's 2020 list of the "Greatest Designs of Modern Times."

The OXO peeler that resulted from the Farbers’ culinary struggle is both simple and revolutionary. The oversized, rubbery handle was a bold choice for the time, and the hollowed-out spots, covered with “fins” inspired by bike handles, beckon people to pick it up, gently squeeze the fins, and instantly recognize a better grip. But the design was far more than an improvement on existing designs—it could also be comfortably used by those who suffer from arthritis in their hands. Farber knew that the peeler had to be better for anyone and everyone to reach those that needed it the most. As such, the creation of the OXO peeler was a flashpoint for inclusive, or universal, design.

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Most of the products on ID’s new list are likely to be found in a typical United States domicile, such as the OXO Good Grips Peeler (#6) and Post-It Notes (#15). The shift, ID purports, is indicative of how design has changed from an industry mainly concerned with aesthetics and luxury to one that more widely recognizes the value of function and the needs of everyone, not just the wealthy.

Farber was a friend of the Institute of Design and served on its Board of Advisors. The Sam Farber Fellowship was started by his former colleagues at Smart Design who wish to keep his legacy alive through the design practices taught at ID. The fellowship supports ID students, particularly those with an interest in improving lives of consumers, who are integrating design with business practices and/or becoming entrepreneurs themselves.

Sam Farber Fellowship

The Sam Farber Fellowship was started by his former colleagues at Smart Design who wish to keep his legacy alive through the design practices taught at ID. The fellowship supports ID students, particularly those with an interest in improving lives of consumers, who are integrating design with business practices and/or becoming entrepreneurs themselves.

Related

Understanding Universal Design Through OXO

Sam Farber Fellowship