The Design Museum of Chicago or "DMoC" (formerly Chicago Design Museum) is a museum of

design A design is a plan or specification for the construction of an object or system or for the implementation of an activity or process or the result of that plan or specification in the form of a prototype, product, or process. The verb ''to design' ...

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. It was founded by Tanner Woodford in 2012 as a pop-up

museum A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make thes ...

, and hosted exhibitions in different venues around

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in 2012 and 2013. Following a successful Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign in 2014, the museum opened a permanent location in the

Block 37 108 North State Street, also known as Block 37, is a development located in the Loop community area of downtown Chicago, Illinois. It is located on the square block bounded clockwise from the North by West Randolph Street, North State Street ...

building. In late 2018, the museum moved to Expo 72 (72 E. Randolph St).

Mission and purpose

The mission of the Design Museum of Chicago is to "educate, inspire, and foster innovation through design." Its programs are collaborative and community-based, largely relying on local volunteers for

exhibit design Exhibit design (or exhibition design) is the process of developing an exhibit—from a concept through to a physical, three-dimensional exhibition. It is a continually evolving field, drawing on innovative, creative, and practical solutions to t ...

, curation, registration,

marketing Marketing is the process of exploring, creating, and delivering value to meet the needs of a target market in terms of goods and services; potentially including selection of a target audience; selection of certain attributes or themes to emph ...

, and other core museological functions. With a small staff, its foundation is "in its many volunteers' visions and labor." The museum is a

non-profit A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

501(c)(3) organization that believes design has the capacity to fundamentally improve the human condition. It fosters free, open, and honest engagement with diverse audiences through a permanent collection, rotating exhibitions, and educational programming.

Exhibitions

Exhibitions focus on a broad, cross-disciplinary definition of design, encompassing graphic design,

architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and constructing building ...

urban planning Urban planning, also known as town planning, city planning, regional planning, or rural planning, is a technical and political process that is focused on the development and design of land use and the built environment, including air, water, ...

interior design Interior design is the art and science of enhancing the interior of a building to achieve a healthier and more aesthetically pleasing environment for the people using the space. An interior designer is someone who plans, researches, coordi ...

, systems thinking, and more. * Free & Open Chicago: Cheers to 10 Years! (November 17, 2022 – April 2, 2023) * ID@85: 85 Years of Making the Future (October 19, 2022 – Ongoing) * The Correct Time: One Clock Per Minute (July 16, 2022 – October 17, 2022) * All-City Visual Arts Exhibition 2022 (May 11, 2022 – June 22, 2022) * Tomorrow, and Tomorrow and Tomorrow (April 15, 2022 – April 16, 2022) * All Together Now: Sound x Design (November 13, 2021 – April 3, 2022) * All-City Visual Arts Exhibition 2021 (January 1, 2021 – December 31, 2021) * A Designed Life (June 12, 2021 – September 19, 2021) * Chicago: Home of House at The Catacombs (May 8, 2021 – June 30, 2021) * All-City Visual Arts Exhibition 2020 (May 29, 2020 – December 31, 2020) * Great Ideas of Humanity: Passing the Torch (February 25, 2020 – December 31, 2020) * Setting the Stage: Objects of Chicago Theatre (June 29, 2019 – January 5, 2020) * All-City Visual Arts Exhibition 2019 (April 10, 2019 – May 12, 2019) * Keep Moving: Designing Chicago's Bicycle Culture (October 27, 2018 – March 3, 2019) * Keep Moving: Shifting Gears (November 17, 2018 – January 18, 2019) * Great Ideas of Humanity: Out of the Container (April 20, 2018 – August 18, 2018) * HEY! PLAY! Games in Modern Culture (October 20, 2017 – March 10, 2018) * Confluence • 20+ Creative Ecologies of Hong Kong (October 14, 2017 – November 4, 2017) * Dan Friedman: Radical Modernist (April 28, 2017 – August 12, 2017) * City of Ideas: Architects' Voices and Visions (October 22, 2016 – February 25, 2017) * ChicagoMade: Great Ideas of Humanity (December 1, 2016 – December 3, 2016) * Unfolded: Made with Paper (April 5, 2016 – August 26, 2016) * New Horizon: Architecture from Ireland (October 2, 2015 – January 30, 2016) * The State of Detroit (April 28, 2015 – August 29, 2015) * Deborah Sussman Loves Los Angeles! (November 13, 2014 – February 28, 2015) * Starts/Speculations: Graphic Design in Chicago Past and Future (June 12, 2014 – September 30, 2014) * Work at Play (June 1, 2013 – June 30, 2013) * A—Z: Art on Track (September 22, 2012) * Inaugural Exhibition: 700 N Sacramento (June 1, 2012 – June 30, 2012)

Notable projects

VaxChiNation Artist campaign

In 2021, the Design Museum joined with the

Chicago Department of Public Health The Chicago Department of Public Health (CDPH) is a government department of the City of Chicago. The purpose of the Chicago Department of Public Health (CDPH) is too create a thriving and healthy community within the city of Chicago, Illinois by ...

and the

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Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events to commission more than 80 local artists to "design original art exploring themes of

health Health, according to the World Health Organization, is "a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease and infirmity".World Health Organization. (2006)''Constitution of the World Health Organiza ...

vitality Vitality (, , ) is the capacity to live, grow, or develop. More simply it is the property of having life. The perception of vitality is regarded as a basic psychological drive and, in philosophy, a component to the will to live. As such, peopl ...

community A community is a social unit (a group of living things) with commonality such as place, norms, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given geographical area (e.g. a country, village, ...

, and vaccine distribution to encourage everyone to get vaccinated." The commissioned art is featured on print and digital billboards throughout Chicago neighborhoods and on social media channels. Some artists in the campaign include: Afrokilla, Alice Hargrave, Anthony Lewellen, Ashley Lin, Bob Faust, CZR PRZ, Carlos Rolón, Carlos Segura, Cody Hudson, Cristi López, Dan Grzeca, Dont Fret, Elloo, Emmy Star Brown, Esther Garcia, Gabriel Villa, Hector Duarte, Jason Pickleman, Jeff Zimmerman, Johnny Sampson, Kelly Knaga, Langston Allston, Lori Seidemann, Moises Salazar, Penny Pinch, Pouya Ahmadi, Rosemary Holiday Hall, Rubén Aguirre, Shannon Downey, Sonnenzimmer, Substance Collective, The Kid From Pilsen, Thomas Williams, Unyimeabasi Udoh, William J. O’Brien, and Won Kim.

Great Ideas of Humanity

Great Ideas of Humanity is a series of

advertisements Advertising is the practice and techniques employed to bring attention to a product or service. Advertising aims to put a product or service in the spotlight in hopes of drawing it attention from consumers. It is typically used to promote a ...

in which

contemporary artists This is a list of artists who create contemporary art, i.e., those whose peak of activity can be situated somewhere between the 1970s (the advent of postmodernism) and the present day. Artists on this list meet the following criteria: *The person ...

and

ers are asked to create artwork that responds to quotes by leading

scientists A scientist is a person who conducts scientific research to advance knowledge in an area of the natural sciences. In classical antiquity, there was no real ancient analog of a modern scientist. Instead, philosophers engaged in the philosophica ...

philosophers A philosopher is a person who practices or investigates philosophy. The term ''philosopher'' comes from the grc, φιλόσοφος, , translit=philosophos, meaning 'lover of wisdom'. The coining of the term has been attributed to the Greek th ...

, and

academics An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, ...

. The series serves as "an acknowledgment of the increasing

globalization Globalization, or globalisation (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English; American and British English spelling differences#-ise, -ize (-isation, -ization), see spelling differences), is the process of foreign relation ...

or our world and resulting cross-pollination of

ideas In common usage and in philosophy, ideas are the results of thought. Also in philosophy, ideas can also be mental representational images of some object. Many philosophers have considered ideas to be a fundamental ontological category of being. ...

philosophies Philosophical schools of thought and philosophical movements. A Absurdism - Action, philosophy of - Actual idealism - Actualism - Advaita Vedanta - Aesthetic Realism - Aesthetics - African philosophy - Afrocentrism - Agential realism - ...

societies A society is a group of individuals involved in persistent social interaction, or a large social group sharing the same spatial or social territory, typically subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations. Societ ...

, and

culture Culture () is an umbrella term which encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, customs, capabilities, and habits of the individuals in these groups ...

," and is inspired by the Great Ideas of Western Man campaign by

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Container Corporation of America Container Corporation of America (CCA) was founded in 1926 and manufactured corrugated boxes. In 1968 CCA merged with Montgomery Ward & Company, Inc., becoming MARCOR. MARCOR maintained separate management for the operations of each company, but ...

. Advertisements from this series have been displayed downtown

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on its bus rapid transit advertisement stanchions, and in

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...

at the Business of Design Week InnoTech Design Expo. Contributors include Matthew Hoffman on

Susan B. Anthony Susan B. Anthony (born Susan Anthony; February 15, 1820 – March 13, 1906) was an American social reformer and women's rights activist who played a pivotal role in the women's suffrage movement. Born into a Quaker family committed to s ...

, Andy Gregg on

Mary Wollstonecraft Mary Wollstonecraft (, ; 27 April 1759 – 10 September 1797) was a British writer, philosopher, and advocate of women's rights. Until the late 20th century, Wollstonecraft's life, which encompassed several unconventional personal relationsh ...

, Renata Graw on

Hypatia Hypatia, Koine pronunciation (born 350–370; died 415 AD) was a neoplatonist philosopher, astronomer, and mathematician, who lived in Alexandria, Egypt, then part of the Eastern Roman Empire. She was a prominent thinker in Alexandria where ...

, 50,000feet on

Goethe Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German poet, playwright, novelist, scientist, statesman, theatre director, and critic. His works include plays, poetry, literature, and aesthetic criticism, as well as tr ...

, Margot Harrington on Sojourner Truth, Cocu Liu on

George Sand Amantine Lucile Aurore Dupin de Francueil (; 1 July 1804 – 8 June 1876), best known by her pen name George Sand (), was a French novelist, memoirist and journalist. One of the most popular writers in Europe in her lifetime, bein ...

, Pouya Ahmadi on Rumi
Patternbase
on

Lucy Larcom Lucy Larcom (March 5, 1824 – April 17, 1893) was an American teacher, poet, and author. She was one of the first teachers at Wheaton Female Seminary (now Wheaton College) in Norton, Massachusetts, teaching there from 1854 to 1862. During that t ...

, Eileen Tjan on

, Kimberly Terzis on Anne Sophie Swetchine, Alexander Skoirchet on

Buddha Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha, was a wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism. According to Buddhist tradition, he was born in L ...

, Marcus Norman on

, Tanner Woodford on Edith Wharton, Veronica Corzo-Duchardt on

, LaShun Tines on

Frederick Douglass Frederick Douglass (born Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey, February 1817 or 1818 – February 20, 1895) was an American social reformer, abolitionist, orator, writer, and statesman. After escaping from slavery in Maryland, he became ...

, Matthew Terdich on

Benjamin Franklin Benjamin Franklin ( April 17, 1790) was an American polymath who was active as a writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher, and political philosopher. Encyclopædia Britannica, Wood, 2021 Among the leading inte ...

, Bibliothèque on Alfred North Whitehead, Hugh Dubberly on John Dewey, and

Ivan Chermayeff Chermayeff & Geismar & Haviv (formerly Brownjohn, Chermayeff & Geismar and Chermayeff & Geismar) is a New York-based branding and graphic design firm. It is currently led by partners Tom Geismar and Sagi Haviv. About It was founded in 1957 ...

Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr. Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr. (; August 29, 1809 – October 7, 1894) was an American physician, poet, and polymath based in Boston. Grouped among the fireside poets, he was acclaimed by his peers as one of the best writers of the day. His most fa ...

Chicago Design Market

The Chicago Design Market is "a rotating series of pop-up shops that create the unexpected by placing small emerging artists alongside larger established businesses. Located on the third floor of

, "shops are not charged for utilities and do not pay a fixed monthly rent. Instead, the museum takes a sales commission. This allows small designers or businesses, such as Aviate Press, to market in a retail space, while allowing larger establishments, such as Cards Against Humanity, to experiment with both the space and their business model." Stores are selected via an application process. They include: Cards Against Humanity, The Colossal Shop, You Are Beautiful, Fourneau Bread Oven,

School of the Art Institute of Chicago The School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC) is a private art school associated with the Art Institute of Chicago (AIC) in Chicago, Illinois. Tracing its history to an art students' cooperative founded in 1866, which grew into the museum and ...

, Resketch, Sweetwater Foundation, Shawnimals, Aviate Press, AIA Chicago, Dock 6 Collective and mercer & winnie.

The Design Pack

The Design Pack is a Cards Against Humanity

expansion pack An expansion pack, expansion set, supplement, or simply expansion is an addition to an existing role-playing game, tabletop game, video game or collectible card game. These add-ons usually add new game areas, weapons, objects, characters, or ...

that includes 30 illustrated cards that interpret

George Carlin George Denis Patrick Carlin (May 12, 1937 – June 22, 2008) was an American comedian, actor, author, and social critic. Regarded as one of the most important and influential stand-up comedians of all time, he was dubbed "the dean of countercu ...

's infamous 1972 monologue, " Seven Words You Can Never Say on Television." All proceeds from the Design Pack benefit the Design Museum of Chicago, with sales surpassing $130,000 in its first few days on the market. Similar non-profit packs by Cards Against Humanity have raised nearly millions of dollars for partner organizations

DonorsChoose.org DonorsChoose is a United States-based nonprofit organization that allows individuals to donate directly to public school classroom projects. The organization has been given Charity Navigator's highest rating every year since 2005. In January 2018 ...

, the

Wikimedia Foundation The Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., or Wikimedia for short and abbreviated as WMF, is an American 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization headquartered in San Francisco, California and registered as a charitable foundation under local laws. Best know ...

, and the Sunlight Foundation. Contributors to the Design Pack include Laura Park, Shawna X, Chad Kouri, Susan Kare, Yann Legendre,

Paula Scher Paula Scher (born October 6, 1948, Washington, D.C.) is an American graphic designer, painter and art educator in design. She also served as the first female principal at Pentagram, which she joined in 1991.Scher, Paula." (n.d.): Oxford University ...

, Jay Ryan, Mike McQuade, Paul Octavious,

Erik Spiekermann Erik Spiekermann (born 30 May 1947 in Stadthagen, Lower Saxony) is a German typographer, designer and writer. He is an honorary professor at the University of the Arts Bremen and ArtCenter College of Design. Biography Spiekermann studied art hi ...

Max Temkin ''Cards Against Humanity'' is an adult party game in which players complete fill-in-the-blank statements, using words or phrases typically deemed offensive, risqué, or political correctness, politically incorrect, printed on playing cards. It ...

, Debbie Millman,

Art Paul Arthur Paul (January 18, 1925 – April 28, 2018) was an American graphic designer and the founding art director of ''Playboy'' magazine. During his time at ''Playboy'', he commissioned illustrators and artists, including Andy Warhol, Salva ...

, Simon Whybray, Mike Mitchell, Scott Thomas, Matthew Terdich, Jez Burrows,

Jason Polan Jason Daniel Polan (July 17, 1982 – January 27, 2020) was an American artist born in Ann Arbor, Michigan who lived and worked in New York City. Polan's illustrations have been published in ''The New Yorker'', ''The New York Times'', ''Metropolis ...

Jessica Hische Jessica Nicole Hische ( ; born April 4, 1984) is an American lettering artist, illustrator, author, and type designer. She was one of the first of a new generation of letterers and the present-day flourishing of the lettering arts can in part be t ...

, Cody Hudson, Nick Adam, Matthew Hoffman, Magdalena Wistuba + Anna Mort, Eric Hu,

Olly Moss Oliver Jonathan Moss (born 24 January 1987) is an English graphic artist, best known for his reimagining of movie posters. His work has been released by Mondo and is regularly featured in ''Empire'' magazine. Background and early life Moss gr ...

, Tanner Woodford,

Milton Glaser Milton Glaser (June 26, 1929June 26, 2020) was an American graphic designer. His most notable designs include the I Love New York logo, a 1966 poster for Bob Dylan, and the logos for DC Comics, Stony Brook University and Brooklyn Brewery. In 195 ...

, and Sonnenzimmer.

References

External links

*
Great Ideas of Humanity from the Design Museum of ChicagoManifesto of the Staatliches BauhausThe Design Pack50,000feetChicago Design Museum ephemera collection
at The Newberry {{DEFAULTSORT:Design Museum of Chicago Art museums and galleries in Chicago Design museums in the United States Contemporary art galleries in the United States Art museums and galleries in Illinois Tourist attractions in Chicago 2012 establishments in Illinois