Katherine and Michael McCoy have had a profound influence on American design. As co-chairs of the graduate program in design at Cranbrook Academy of Art in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, for 23 years, the experimentalism and openness to theory they encouraged at Cranbrook continues to bear fruit. In 1995 the McCoys left Cranbrook to form High Ground Design, where they continued in their role as educators with studio-based programs for designers administered in the firm's Boulder, Colorado, setting. In addition to teaching, both McCoys still design: Katherine's projects include the design of the book Graphic Radicals/ Radical Graphics, for Chronicle books, as well as the signage for the headquarters of the NFL's Chicago Bears. Michael, along with partner Dale Fahnstrom of Fahnstrom/McCoy Design Consultants in Chicago, has designed such favorites as the Knoll Bulldog Chair, office products for Steelcase, and electronic products for NEC.

The McCoys have been the recipients of many design awards, including the American Center for Design Educators Award, The AIGA Medal (for Katherine), IDSA's IDEA Award (for Michael), as well as awards from I.D. Magazine, Interiors, Print, and the Japanese Design Foundation. Their work has been collected by numerous museums, including the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum in New York, the British Design Museum, and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.