Art-Student-Athlete—A 400+ page history book covering the origins and evolution of the game of basketball at the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) from the early 20th century to today.
Created in conjunction with my Senior Degree Project course at RISD, this project seeks to collect, archive, and package a history often overlooked or discarded by the institution at large. Through extensive research in RISD's own Archives and Special Collections, as well as a look through their hundreds of items on their Digital Commons site, I was able to slowly piece together a timeline and visual history of basketball at its many iterations at this renowned art school.
To help fill in the blanks, I reached out to 25+ alumni who either played on a team during their time, or were linked to the clubs over the years, and heard their stories firsthand. From student announcers and team captains to RISD faculty and even a former RISD President, my goal was to hear every perspective I could to understand the full scope and impact the game has had on its students and school spirit.
In recent years, the names of the teams themselves have become somewhat controversial, as many see them as nothing more than a sexual innuendo or a crass joke. However, my hope is that this book helps to better illuminate the longstanding tradition of sports at something so paradoxical as an art school. These are not your average club sports teams, but an entire community of artists, students, and athletes all coexisting and celebrating the many parts of themselves that make them the great creatives they are.
(Above) Further playing on the imagery and ephemera of sports culture, I also designed special cards for each alum or RISD staff member that I interviewed for the project, giving each person the same level of honor and respect as a "real" professional athlete. Each card also includes information about when and for how long we talked, their roles on their respective teams, and a quote from our interview that summed up our conversation.
In addition to the hand-sewn text block, the hardcover was made with red bookcloth and three layers of screenprint ink to create the illusion of a leather basketball. Each copy of the book also has two shoelaces to serve as bookmarks for the reader and further speak to the materials of sports and basketball in general.
(Above) Laser cut bookmarks were produced as a giveaway item for my presentation. The clipping design is both a lewd symbol and a useful tool to keep the bookmark in place on the page.
