mission statement

The Innovation Center for Design Excellence (ICDE) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to fostering educational opportunities for underprivileged design students. ICDE will provide these students with scholarships, internships, and mentoring programs in partnership with our corporate sponsors, including professionals within the field. “According to the United States Census Report, Educational Attainment in the United States: 2015, only 32.5% of the United States population, 25 years and older, have a baccalaureate degree, and only 12% have an advanced degree (professional, masters, or doctorate).” This is simply not enough. Many of our most talented are being left behind. The Innovation Center for Design Excellence believes that many of the world’s problems can be solved through education and opportunity. ICDE believes that creating educational environments that are accessible to all individuals, no matter the impairment, is both achievable and necessary.

Through our website, ICDE provides free educational resources to anyone that shares a passion or need within the field of graphic and/or communication design. These educational resources are updated constantly through articles, lectures, tutorials, links, and postings that are vetted by board members, ambassadors, and educators within the field, and cover over 20 topics and/or sub-disciplines within design.

In addition, ICDE sponsors national student design competitions to help these scholars garnish recognition within the field. Currently ICDE runs over 10 national competitions, with plans to run more.