Advising provides a critical support system for students at the Rhode Island School of Design, but advisors roles were sometimes unclear and graduation requirements that vary by departments were not well understood, leading to underutilization of the may resources available to students on their path to graduation.
The Academic Affairs Department of RISD worked with Studio Rainwater to develop a suite of materials to help both students and faculty better understand the school’s requirements and resources to ensure that students have the best possible experience at the school.
Studio Rainwater worked with the team at RISD to clarify the most pertinent and commonly misunderstood information and design a series of easy-to-read guides and tools for both faculty and student audiences. We created a hand drawn visual language that was playful and inviting to add humor and humanity to subject matter that was traditionally relegated to the fine print.
Working closely with RISD, we designed infographics and tools that would help the community understand complex requirements and timelines, get them excited about academic opportunities, and provide resources for support and guidance.
Faculty embraced the guides for their clarity and have kept them as valuable resources to refer to year-over-year. The tools have also proven useful to the school’s admissions office as an easy way to explain graduation requirements to students and parents.
