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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Alumni

Memorial for Aaron Elias Cook (MDes 2017)

Remembering ID alum Aaron Cook (1976–2024)

November 19, 2024

Aaron Cook

ID alumni are invited to celebrate the life of Aaron Cook. Aaron was most recently i-team Civic Designer at the Bloomberg Center for Sustainable American Cities in Columbus, Ohio. Previously, he was Lead Design Thinking Catalyst at Ford Motor Company in Palo Alto, California.

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Wherever he lived, community was paramount to Aaron, who accepted anyone he met for who they were.

REMEMBERING AARON COOK

Aaron Cook

Calling Hours

Friday, November 22, 2024, 5–7pm ET
Asbury United Methodist Church
Delaware, Ohio

Memorial Service

Saturday, November 23, 2024, 11am ET
Asbury United Methodist Church
Delaware, Ohio

Email rememberingaaronecook@gmail.com if you would like to join the service remotely.

Gathering Following the Service

Ohio Wesleyan University
Merrick Hall, 3rd Floor
Delaware, Ohio  43015
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His greatest gift, among many, was the grace and empathy he brought to relationships — with loved ones, acquaintances, and strangers alike.

Family and friends are collecting memories for the memorial service. Please upload contributions to Google Drive or Figma.

Comments can also be shared via Aaron’s obituary. A recording will be shared after the memorial.