Yesterday John Maeda wrote that he’s discovered that the acronym for Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) can be a point of confusion. Archivist Andrew Martinez has helped us out by tracking down the information below. Thanks Andy!

“The familiar RISD seal, found on everything from RISD stationery to T-shirts, is RISD’s second official emblem. In 1910, RISD Director Huger Elliott apparently took it upon himself to design an official seal for the School to use in its publications and on its diplomas. A previous attempt to have the artist Kenyon Cox design a seal was unsuccessful.

Elliott’s design of “a winged female figure holding a torch and protecting a youthful male figure holding a tablet and crayon” can be seen on the Main Street corner of the College Building and has resurfaced on some coffee mugs and t-shirts. On June 8, 1910 the RISD Trustees officially adopted Elliott’s seal.

The 1914 student yearbook was named “The RISoD.”

By 1947, several members of RISD’s Executive Committee and Board of Trustees were expressing their unhappiness with the design and quality of RISD’s publications. That year faculty member John Howard Benson (Benson Hall) was asked to re-design the degree diploma, and he developed several variations for seals incorporating the four letters R.I. S. D. In 1948, Benson revamped the certificate awarded by RISD’s Evening School Program and the following year he created new RISD letterhead. On October 25, 1949, the Board of Trustees’ Executive Committee voted for the adoption of RISD’s current corporate seal, designed by Benson.

The 1957-58 admissions catalog is the first instance I have found where Rhode Island School of Design is not spelled out in each and every instance, with RISD is used interchangeably.

Of course, this is all visual evidence, and more will undoubtedly come to light. We’ll have to see if any alumni can tell us when “RISD” became part of our common, spoken language.”

P.S. from Liz: In the 1990s Stacy Dietz Greenfeld ’98 GD came up with a phonetic “riz-de” design. T-shirts, mugs and bumper stickers are available at risd:store.