Submit our Request for Information form to be notified of upcoming events or to request additional information about the MDes program.
Virtual MDes Information Sessions
These are online sessions hosted by School of Design faculty and staff, including Cheryl Towler Weese, Director of the MDes in Graphic Design, and TJ O'Keefe, Director of the MDes in Industrial Design. Join us to learn more about the MDes program and curriculum, opportunities for students, and the application process.
2026-2027 Info Sessions
Register here
Friday, October 23 at 12pm
Friday, November 20 at 12pm
Thursday, December 10 at 12pm
Friday, January 8 at 12pm
School of Design Tour
Prospective MDes students are invited get a look inside the School of Design! Tour our studios, classrooms, fabrication labs, and print lab to gain a better understanding of the MDes student experience. The tour will last approximately 1 hour, after which all students are invited to attend the School of Design's public seminar with Chris Dingwall (see below).
Thursday, November 5 at 5:30pm
School of Design
845 W Harrison St.
Register here
Design Public Seminar Series
The School of Design's public seminar series serves as a research platform for the MDes program, stimulating broad intellectual inquiry about the values guiding the designer by promoting discourse across industrial and graphic design. Prospective MDes students are encouraged to attend!
Thursday, November 5 at 6:30pm
Seminar with Chris Dingwall, co-editor of Black Designers in Chicago
UIC Daley Library, Circle Reading Room
801 S Morgan St.
Open to the public. No RSVP required.
Graduate Design/Architecture Salon Series
This monthly salon of the Schools of Architecture and Design give all Architecture and Design grad students a chance to share a space, socially, as one community. In the history of art, design, and architecture, at the center of innovation and progress, is the exchange of ideas. Salons–of all forms–were historically a place where artists and designers of all mediums got together to make new connections, socialize, and share ideas–at the very least there were refreshments and fun, and maybe dancing. Prospective students are invited to join in and get to know our community.
Friday, October 9, 5:30–7:30pm
Architecture + Design Studios Building
845 W Harrison St.
RSVP here
MDes Reviews
Prospective graduate students are always welcome to attend MDes midterm reviews and final reviews. These provide a great opportunity to see and better understand the work that happens in the MDes program, meet faculty and students, and get a sense of the current discourse about design within the school.
Fall 2026 Midterm Reviews
Email us at design@uic.edu if you're interested in attending!
Friday, October 9, 12pm–5pm
Graphic Design reviews (second-year students)
Industrial Design reviews (first- and second-year students)
Friday, October 16, 9am–2pm
Graphic Design reviews (first-year students)
Fall 2026 Final Reviews
December 7-9
More details coming soon!
Visit the School
If you are interested in visiting the School of Design in person, please contact us at design@uic.edu.