Four faculty members recently designed eye-catching shirts for a RISD/Threadless Select Series curated by President John Maeda. When Threadless, a popular online tee shirt company, invited the president to guest-curate its newest line of designer tees, he, in turn, selected four professors -- all award-winning professionals in their respective fields - as creatives for the project. Professor of Graphic Design Nancy Skolos, Assistant Professor of Industrial Design Soojung Ham [RISD BFA '92, Industrial Design], Professor of Illustration Trent Burleson [RISD MFA '76, Painting] and Randy Willier, an adjunct faculty member in Illustration, agreed to provide their own unique interpretations of Maeda's chosen theme, Newness.

"RISD has an amazing community of learners, doers and mentors that pursues the art and philosophy of human expression -- and newness -- with exhausting intensity," notes the president. "So, in partnering with Threadless, we had a great opportunity to explore this timely theme together -- during an exciting election season energized by a palpable desire for change. Human nature and the creative spirit drive our desire for new tastes and new sensations, all of which can be synthesized into fresh perspectives and new experiences."

Although Threadless was created in 2000 as a site with an ongoing, open call for designs submitted by the public, in 2006 it launched a specialty arm to celebrate a broader spectrum of art and design -- from fine art to street art, CG to sculpture, typography to architecture. Beginning with this new edition, Threadless now plans to invite guest artists and designers to curate The Select Series on an ongoing basis.

"When we thought about who we wanted to launch the Curator editions for The Select Series, John Maeda seemed like the perfect choice," says Dustin Hostetler, special projects curator for Threadless. "Not only is he involved in some amazing art-related projects, but his new position at RISD represents the same artistic community involvement we love to support at Threadless."

The resulting sales and artists' commissions from this project are expected to generate $15,000-20,000 for RISD's scholarship fund. Shirts are available at theselectseries.com.