Kaitlin Wang, Zack Clements, and Kate Oglesby review the design that was chosen for this year’s Fourth of July T-shirt contest. (Photo by Lisa Aciukewicz)

If you visit the website of the General Store, www.harvardgeneralstore.com, you’ll see an interactive graphic showing the store of today, and the hoped-for store of tomorrow. This Flash presentation was created by the graphic arts class at Bromfield, one of Martha Brooks’s digital arts classes, which were also responsible for creating CAD drawings for the Town Center Septic Task Force and the website for the school district.

“Projects like this show students how to work with real-life projects and real-life clients,” said Brooks.

Brooks said that all of these activities fall under what she calls “project 197,” the outreach initiative that gives all the students in her digital arts classes the opportunity to work on projects in the community.

One of the most visible projects of the graphic arts class is the design of the logo for the T-shirts and other apparel that the Fourth of July Committee sells as a fundraiser to support Harvard’s celebration of Independence Day. Brooks said the class has been doing the designs for six to eight years.

Each year Brooks presents the class, of about 25 students, with a challenge to come up with a design that has some of the elements the Fourth of July Committee is looking for, then, working with the committee, she selects the winner. The idea for this year’s design was developed by graphic arts student Zack Clements, who worked with classmates Kaitlin Wang and Kate Oglesby on fleshing it out into something that would work as a logo.

The result is a graphic that celebrates “Harvard’s Fields of Green,” with a bowl of vegetables, outlined in white, against a green background.

The three collaborators on this years Fourth of July logo will each get a free T-shirt, a chance to march in the Fourth of July parade, and bragging rights. But on this project, really, everyone was a winner, said Brooks.

Brooks said that projects like this are good for the town and good for the students, helping townspeople to see what the class is all about and what the students can do.

“It’s a mutually beneficial arrangement,” she said.

Apparel with the new 2008 Fourth of July logo will go on sale at Town Meeting. T-shirt prices are $18 for adult sizes and $12 for youth sizes. Long-sleeve shirts for adults will also be available for $20, as well as sweatshirts for $35 and hats for $18