The work of four Penn State graphic design students will soon be visible around campus and in State College -- but not hanging on walls or in pamphlets.

These students will have their designs printed on T-shirts to be sold at Metro, 324 E. College Ave.

This semester, Art Fine, the owner of Metro, a clothing store, had a design contest for students in the class Art 371 (Applied Communication).

The four winners of the contest will receive cash prizes and will have their designs printed on T-shirts and sold in the store, Fine said.

After he came up with the idea for the contest, Fine spoke with Kristen Sommese, associate professor of graphic design, who teaches the class. No real guidelines were set up for the contest, Fine said.

The idea was that students would submit any design they thought would be appropriate, and a panel of judges would choose four winners.

Along with bringing publicity to the store, the contest has many benefits for the students who participated, Fine added.

"Students are really getting a chance to partake in the commercial world," he said.

"I feel we have lots of talented people in the art department."

The T-shirts are currently being printed for the store, and Metro will be featuring a display of the designs that will explain the project to customers. The graphic design department will also be given the four winning T-shirts, and each of the winners will be given a T-shirt featuring their design, he added.

Sommese, who aided with the project, said she believes this was an excellent experience for her students.

The focus of the class is client relations, and this contest gave students "practical experience," Sommese said. For the contest, students also had to deal personally with the clients and get client feedback on their designs, she added.

Abby Lee (junior-graphic design) won first prize in the contest.

The T-shirt she designed was inspired by maps of the Washington, D.C., subway system, Lee said. Lee's sister lives in the city, and she loves seeing the maps when she goes to visit, she said.

The T-shirt features a map of State College, similar to the ones seen in Washington, D.C., Lee said. The main stop on her map is the store, Metro, she added.

Creating the design was a challenge, as the students had no restrictions, Lee said.

They had to think about what the store's clients would wear and how convenient the design would be to print, she said. Many students toured the store for ideas, Lee added.

Winning the contest is worth the challenge of creating the design, she said.

"By having people walk around with a T-shirt you designed on, you're getting something back from the work you do," Lee added. "It's definitely a resume builder."

Angela Moyer (junior-graphic design) will also have the design she created appear on a Metro T-shirt.

Moyer's design features a picture of her father from 1975. In the picture, Moyer's father is racing a dirt bike. The dust rising from the bike says "Metro Mud Puppies."

Metro is a collective store with many different styles, Moyer said. The T-shirt she designed has a retro look, she added.

"I wanted to design something that I would wear. Metro's one of my favorite stores," Moyer said.

Moyer said she also believes this experience will help her in the future, especially because she would like to design T-shirts like this, she said.

"I think it will help when I work with clients in the future -- I've never designed anything for people other than teachers."