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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Wonderland

By Ashlyn Spilde

May 16, 2025

Wonderland

Wonderland is a narrative-driven game that invites players to enter a surreal, imaginative world and create a narrative together. Drawing inspiration from the whimsical world of Alice in Wonderland, players work together to weave a story through improvisation, dice rolls, and thematic prompts that guide players through an evolving tale. Wonderland is a world where imagination is the only limit, and everyone has a voice. Rather than competition, the game focuses on shared creativity, deep listening, and spontaneous worldbuilding. Whether silly, strange, or heartfelt, each story becomes a unique reflection of the people who told it.

Project Details

  • Class: Communication Systems Studio
  • Instructor: Ruth Schmidt, Jessica Meharry