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

Current Students Discuss Our MDes + MPPA Dual-Degree Program

Discover our newest program in a December 2 info session

By Krista Roble

November 2, 2021

MDes + MPPA at ID

Hear from faculty and current students in our MDes + Master of Public Policy and Administration program in our upcoming information session. Students will talk about their varied paths to ID and the goals that led them to join the program. They will share how the MDes + MPPA has built on their previous work experience, how they get involved in the student community beyond classes, how they’re customizing the MDes curriculum to fit their interests, and what they plan to do next. Faculty will discuss the curriculum in more detail, the specific career paths this program can lead to, and help to answer attendee questions.

Students and faculty joining us include:

  • Victoria Marie Williamson (MDes + MPPA 2022)
  • Elizabeth Graff (MDes + MPPA + Foundation 2023)
  • Lila Conlee (MDes + MPPA + Foundation 2023)
  • Mitchell Kunichoff (MDes + MPPA + Foundation 2023)
  • Roland Calia, Associate Dean and MPPA Director, Stuart School of Business
  • Matt Mayfield, Associate Dean, Academics and Administration, Institute of Design

Register now to join the session on Thursday, December 2 at 8am CT or sign up to find out about other upcoming events.

Related

Rodrigo Isasi

Rodrigo Isasi, CEO at Delosi

USA Pavillion

The ID Community on the Future of Work

GFPP present to future state

Fast Company Honors Trio of ID Projects in Innovation by Design Awards