Designers for Obama
January 10, 2008
Sure, I’m intrigued by Barack Obama. You have to admit, the guy really has his act together. Not just as a breath of fresh air on the political scene, but his campaign identity seems to have reached groundbreaking levels too. Check out his web site: barackobama.com. Every inch of it, from the black and white portraits to the smallest typographic details — the quality is pretty exceptional. The design of the original logo is credited to Chicago-based firms Sender LLC and mo/de. The evolution of brand appears to be painstakingly well-considered, and flawlessly executed and maintained by the Obama campaign and its current design team. Pay particular attention to the interpretations of the logo under the “People” and “State” sections.
You’ll notice subtle and not-so-subtle variations of the Obama mark and typographic treatments. Each is meticulously crafted to appeal to his very diverse constituency. Now, not every single one is a “home-run” in my book, but you have to appreciate the effort that went into these. Frankly, I don’t think I’ve ever given any political campaign’s identity a second look until now. Actually, I take that back…
In 2004, at Nesnadny + Schwartz, we designed a new campaign for the Planned Parenthood Action Fund. During this time, Planned Parenthood had endorsed John Kerry in the presidential election. The challenge was to create something clean, crisp and typographic — a bold message that would “stand up” and get noticed in a sea of humdrum stars and stripes and improper uses of backward apostrophes and prime marks (see how many ‘08s and 08’s you notice in the coming year). Anyway, we were very proud of all of those “Stand Up for Choice” exclamation marks behind John Kerry. We felt certain our work was making an impact. Unfortunately, it didn’t help to get Mr. Kerry elected.
Nonetheless, I’m happy to see firms putting some much needed passion into this area of design. Generally, I think firms don’t want to touch politicians with a ten-foot pole (and who could blame them?), but then again, this is the election of “change” and it’s always the right time for good design.
Now, if only there was a way to measure the effectiveness of graphic design on the political process.
Entry Filed under: Branding, Culture. Tags: Branding, campaigns, graphic design, logos, obama, politics.
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1.
Tyler | January 20, 2008 at 5:08 am
hey … nice review, but unfortunately Sol Sender has had no hand in the campaign branding since creation of the original mark. A friend of mine knows the Art Director over there, John Slabyk … his portfolio is down, but used to be available on humanot.com … now its only available here: http://www.celsiusdesign.net/humanot … he’s working with one other designer Scott Thomas who carried almost all the code work on his back, his portfolio can be found here: http://www.simplescott.com .. these are the guys responsible for all the branding and design seen for the campaign.
2.
m3 | January 21, 2008 at 1:53 pm
I’m genuinely sorry for the oversight. Unfortunately, the designers who work the hardest, often get the least amount of credit. Doesn’t mean it’s right… and, it doesn’t surprise me that a lot of people were involved in a project this extensive and well done.
I can’t seem to find any credits on the Obama site anywhere. If you find the official credits, please let me know. The design firms I mention in my post feature this campaign on their sites. I will change my post to say that they “launched” the initial logo and campaign.
Thanks for the info!
Michelle
3.
Sol Sender | February 16, 2008 at 4:52 pm
That’s correct. While we designed the original mark, the campaign and its team has been solely responsible for the roll out and the beautiful interpretations.
Sol Sender
President, Sender LLC
4.
m3 | February 16, 2008 at 5:50 pm
Sol, thanks for the clarification.
Michelle
5.
Thomas Ball | March 12, 2008 at 11:38 am
The blog looks wonderful and I love getting a dose of great design every now and then from you. I’d be interested in your thoughts about the relationship of type to the emotions expressed by various typefaces. I think great designers are in some ways selecting feelings and emotions and reactions they hope to convey through type. Is any of this innate, or is this an example of the power of advertising and our learned associations?
6.
m3 | March 12, 2008 at 2:35 pm
I start every design trying to express a gut feeling with type. It might be an attitude, a certain time or place in history or whatever will help me to strengthen my overall concept. Personally, I think the typeface you choose is only a mere part of the decision-making process. I try to stick with the classics — a well designed serif or sans serif that does not have a lot of personality (it must be my Swiss training… remain neutral!). I try to give the type energy or character by what I do with it. Sometimes I want it be be coy and sometimes I want to be brash. Sometimes I want it to dance and sometimes I want it to rest. The same typeface can convey all of these different emotions. I’m one of those designers who could be happy using 5 typefaces for the rest of my life. In general, I don’t like typefaces that tell me how I’m supposed to feel.