Millikin University graphic design students are giving new life to old books by designing new covers for the Decatur Public Library's One Book/One Community reading program.
Nine Millikin students unveiled 16 pieces of original cover art at the Decatur Public Library's Madden Auditorium on May 4 as part of the national Recovering the Classics campaign.
Mary Aylmer, reference librarian at Decatur Public Library, reached out about the project to Ed Walker, Millikin associate professor of art, who teaches the students in an illustration course. The cover art will be uploaded to the campaign's website, where like the titles they illustrate, they will be free and accessible to all.
Millikin students who participated included:
Aryana Johnson ("Jungle Book" and "The Scarlet Letter") a sophomore studio art major from Maywood, Ill.
Carla Dellepiane ("Alice Through the Looking Glass"), a freshman from Santiago, Chile.
Sydney Doherty ("Leaves of Grass" and "Anna Karenina"), a junior graphic design major from Lake Saint Louis, Mo.
Francisco Gama ("The Last of the Mohicans" and "Journey to the Center of the Earth"), a sophomore graphic design major from Aurora, Ill.
Patrick Ganley ("Flappers and Philosophers" and "The Great Gatsby"), a sophomore graphic design major from Rossville, Ill.
Lavante Smith ("Tarzan" and "The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde"), a sophomore graphic design major from Belleville, Ill.
Sarah Suits ("Frankenstein" and "The Time Machine"), a junior graphic design major from Loami, Ill.
Hunter Wenstrom ("The Three Musketeers" and "Gulliver's Travels"), a sophomore graphic design major from Durand, Ill.
Spencer McGowan ("The Beautiful and the Damned"), a sophomore graphic design major from Morton, Ill.
Recovering the Classics is a crowdsourced collection of original covers for great works in the public domain where anyone can contribute. Recovering the Classics has invited illustrators, typographers and designers of all stripes to create new covers for 100 of the greatest works in the public domain. Anyone can contribute, and all designs are available for sale as prints, apparel and other products to support the artists.
Click here to read more about the work of the Millikin students in an article from the Herald & Review.
