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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TB Bardlavens

Director of Product, Product Equity at Adobe

TB Bardlavens is chaotic good in its purest form. He is a Gay, Black man from the Carolinas, a highly regarded social intrapreneur, and an advocate for equity in technology and design. He is a product executive, cultural strategist, diversity, equity, and justice expert, co-founder, writer, and international speaker, and facilitator.

For more than a decade, TB has dedicated his career to dismantling systemic barriers, building and scaling teams, and launching innovative digital products for companies like Microsoft, Meta, and Adobe. As an accomplished product leader and strategist, he has been at the forefront of delivering more useful, impactful, and equitable experiences for billions of people globally.

TB’s extensive experience and deep understanding of the intersection between technology, design, and social impact make him an exceptional guide in our collective journey toward creating a more equitable and inclusive future.

Shapeshift Session

Ethical AI in Tech Companies | Friday, May 30

About the Summit

Shapeshift Summit

Program

Immersion