CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Three University of Illinois students are among the winners of a national poster-design competition commemorating this year’s 50th anniversary of the Supreme Court’s historic Brown v. Board of Education ruling that paved the way for desegregation of the nation’s public schools.
Winners of “The Chance Project” competition – sponsored by the U. of I.’s graphic design program in the School of Art and Design, and funded as part of the university’s yearlong Brown v. Board Jubileee Commemoration – are (EDITORS: See List.).
“The competition’s theme was centered on the idea of creating a chance for those students who may not have had one before the Supreme Court decision,” said organizers John Jennings and Robb Springfield, both U. of I. professors of graphic design. “A chance denotes opportunity, freedom and change. Using this theme as a starting point, student competitors created posters visualizing what they felt the Brown v. Board of Education decision afforded students in the United States.”
Student designers were instructed to use the phrase “A chance to …” as a launching point for their designs. The national competition was open to all collegiate-level design students.
About 80 students submitted entries, which were judged by a diverse panel of national, award-winning graphic design and visual communications professionals.
“Design is a very powerful communication tool; visual communication affects us everyday,” Jennings said.
“In our consumer-based society, very often the messages we receive are attempting to move us to purchase yet another item that we don’t need,” he said. “I found it very refreshing that these young people could come together and try to inform society about this landmark court case from the past and how it could possibly shed light on the future.”
“THE CHANCE PROJECT” WINNERS
ARLINGTON HEIGHTS – Donovan Foote, U. of I.
MAHOMET – Linda Brewster, U. of I.
WINNETKA – Elizabeth Nelson, U. of I.
OUT-OF-STATE
GEORGIA, Savannah – Blake Coglianese, Savannah College of Art and Design
Tybee Island – Michael Lawson, Savannah College of Art and Design
VIRGINIA, Harrisonburg – Adam Gathman, James Madison University
