PROVIDENCE, RI.- RISD Museum Director John W. Smith announces the launch of the Museum's new visual identity and website. The project was undertaken by the RISD Museum in partnership with Project Projects, an award-winning New York-based design studio.

The refreshed look and feel, to be implemented Museum-wide across multiple media formats, begins with a change in the name itself---- RISD Museum---- to align with how people most commonly refer to the organization.

"Project Projects has created a dynamic, forward-looking brand that reflects the vibrancy of the Museum and all it has to offer. The openness and flexibility of this new communication framework reflects one of the institution's core values by linking the Museum's collection and programs to the actual process of making art," Smith says.

Using the architectural space of the Museum as a source of inspiration, the designers created a distinct mark for the institution: a stylized "M," within which the letters R, I, S, and D are positioned. This new mark and its fluid application across media platforms expresses the Museum's open and multifaceted ties to its community, pedagogical affiliations, and student constituents.

"Among many other things, a museum is a space. As museums adapt, those spaces change---- they become virtual, transitional, and participatory in new ways," explain Rob Giampietro and Prem Krishnamurthy, principals of Project Projects. "The new identity aims to emphasize the spatial nature of the RISD Museum's approach in a way that responds to an ever-changing variety of contexts, suggesting the Museum is something that can be conveyed through its identity across any distance, and hosted by any medium."

The new identity is displayed in fluid motion on the new RISD Museum website, where viewers--- regardless of their geographic location---- can gain an enhanced understanding and unique viewing experience of the Museum's collections, exhibitions, and resources.

The first website redesign in the Museum's history, risdmuseum.org elaborates these future-oriented values with increased functionality and navigational ease for online visitors. A boldly colored trio of slideshow carousels spotlights the Museum's current and upcoming exhibitions, wide-ranging collection, and unique lineup of programming and resources. Actively engaging in the many ways in which artworks are viewed, experienced, and shared in an increasingly digital age, the site encourages users to expand the conversation and explore works beyond the Museum's walls.

The RISD Museum's new visual identity and website represents a major step toward enhancing visibility and the sharing of its remarkable collection and unique interpretative point of view with audiences around the world.