About UIC Design

Grounded in studio culture and deeply involved with the human experience, UIC Design programs are led by a faculty of renowned professional designers and organized to reflect and to advance developments in the field. UIC Design students are introduced to contexts of culture and meaning as they develop the formal, conceptual, and technical skills necessary to confidently enter a professional setting. Advanced students are provided opportunities to work collaboratively in interdisciplinary teams, often engaging with partners in community or industry.

Design is city-centric and Chicago is a global design center. Through involvement in Chicago chapters of national design associations, employment in professional internships, and critical exposure to design practices and exhibitions, our students become active in the real world of design as they pursue their professional degree.

Design is a discipline of rigorous inquiry: questioning what is and what could be.

The practice of design is a responsibility and a privilege. It is an independent pursuit that precipitates collective action. Design advances the interplay between the exalted and the everyday, and stimulates an interchange between diverse disciplines. Serving as both unifying force and catalyst for change, the designer plays a pivotal role in the formulation and advocacy of ideas.

Chicago, one of the world’s great cities, is an ideal environment for the will of the designer-citizen: sharp-eyed, proactive, transcendent. UIC Design provides the impetus and critical forum necessary to amplify talent and quicken intuition, perfect skills, and expand the intellect.