What is this?

Welcome to a new type of d.school yearbook. 

First initiated by our Academic Director Carissa Carter, in the past five years our yearbook has chronicled the developments and ideas coming out of our academic program. The document above represents a transition: as our academic team takes on greater responsibilities for our new degree programs, we are starting to publish an annual roundup that showcases learning, innovation, and impact from across the entire d.school. 

And it’s only fitting. The d.school itself is navigating a time of tremendous transition, both in the world as a whole, and right here on campus. We are aiming to fuse the rigor and depth of our new degree programs with the interdisciplinary vitality of our university-wide course offerings. We’re reimagining our models for spreading design and creating impact alongside professional learners, and we’re developing new approaches for design to meet the most complex and rapidly emerging challenges of our time. This work will unfold in the coming years.

In addition to sharing highlights from classes and our work in supporting a vibrant, interdisciplinary, inclusive design community, you’ll find examples throughout this collection that touch on our projects with K12 educators and young people, social sector leaders, and with students and faculty in higher education from around the world. You’ll hear from our teams who have been focused on producing innovative tools, books, and spreading design methods broadly, and even explore some hints and glimmers of where we see design itself heading.

Whatever and however you design, whether you’re interested in learning or teaching, looking for new tools or inspiration, a prolific contributor to our shared work already, or just hoping to get to know the d.school as a whole a little better, I hope you encounter many ideas and resources in this collection that meet you right where you are.

Contents:

• Teach & Learn: Shaping Curriculum and Community in a Changing World

• Impact & Access: Sharing Design Ideas and Tools

• Explore & Imagine: Building the Future Foundations of Design

Credits:

Editorial Team: Jennifer Brown, Laurie Moore, and Charlotte Burgess–Auburn

Data Acquisition and Analysis: Megan Stariha

Creative Direction, Visual Design, and Typography: Daniel Frumhoff and June Shin

Typeface Design and Lettering: June Shin

Photography: Patrick Beaudouin

Photo Retouching: Daniel Frumhoff and Patrick Beaudouin

Art Consultants: Scott Doorley and Nan Cao

Proofreader: Natasha Bach

Colophon: Ziza by Novo Typo; Signifier and The Future by Klim Type Foundry; Neue Haas Unica by Toshi Imager

Writing and art credits: Basically everyone (we love you)

All of the work we do is a collective effort made possible by the d.school team, our teaching community, and the students we serve.