Institute of Design (ID) at Illinois Tech

At the Institute of Design (ID) at Illinois Tech, we look at the world in new ways to create the change we hope to see in it.

Since our founding by Bauhaus émigré László Moholy-Nagy in 1937, we’ve continually turned design into a powerful tool anyone can use to transform the systems that shape our lives—from cities, education, and finance to food, healthcare, and technology.

We’re the only US design school devoted completely to graduate students, and the first to offer a PhD. By uniting science and rigor with creativity and rapid iteration, we’re recognized around the globe as pioneers in human-centered design, systems design, and other methods that apply design to the real world.

It’s through these unique approaches that students, communities, and corporations learn
to observe the systems they’re surrounded by—and envision the new worlds they can build from them.

Here, learners and leaders discover what design makes possible: It enables us to adapt with the speed, scale, and complexity of life. To anticipate change and the impact of our actions. And, most importantly, to imagine—then create—brighter futures for us all.