The Design behind Barack Obama's Presidential Campaign

Barack Obama's Presidential Campaign was a grand success. It not only motivated millions of Americans to cast their vote for Obama, but it also helped establish Barack Obama as an icon for "Change". When looking at the design aspect of the campaign, what can be seen is an approach that incorporated the values of the Obama campaign such as the spirit for Change and the "Yes we can" slogan and at the same time was flexible enough, so that it could be adapted across various demographics. The campaign management, also inspired various artists to create "Obama Art", showcasing the Person on a much more personal level. While some may call all of this Propaganda 2.0, it did meet the purpose. The entire design aspect of the campaign was created by Chicago based design firms Sender and MODE.   

The Logo & Brand

The official Obama logo as shown above was designed around the letter O.  The O was Ideal due to the possibility of it being used to show a rising sun thereby reflecting the values of the entire campaign such as hope and progress.  Please find below a compilation of the different uses of the intitial logo to reach various deomographics, such as latinos,environmentalists,women,men, sportsmen etc.  

Please have a look at the Interview with Sol Sender, head of Sender LLC on the origin of the logo and the entire brand identity.

 

Another aspect of the campaign was the creation of Obama posters and images by independent artists.  The by far most famous poster (please see below)

was created by Shepard Fairey , who ironically tends to criticize the fact that people  obey rather than to do their own thing.  Please see an Interview with him on the matter below.

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Probably the most memorable part:

“I wanted to make an art piece of Barack Obama because I thought an iconic portrait of him could symbolize and amplify the importance of his mission. I believe Obama will guide this country to a future where everyone can thrive and I should support him vigorously for the sake of my two young daughters. I have made art opposing the Iraq war for several years, and making art of Obama, who opposed the war from the start, is like making art for peace. I know I have an audience of young art fans and I’m delighted if I can encourage them to see the merits of Barack Obama.”-Shepard Fairey

Other movements created by independent artists, were for e.g. "30 Reasons" which wanted to give people a visually compelling reason to vote for Obama and "Design for Obama".  Please have a look at some of the posters created for "30 Reasons".

and for "Design for Obama".

The Obama poster by Shepard Fairey immediately went viral and most probably had a definite impact on the success of the campaign.  In combination with the strong focus of the campaign management on social media,independent artists,independent designers and internet tools such as Facebook & Twitter  the branding was probably only one factor however it was a significant one and in combination with the other pieces created the by far most successful presidential campaign in history.  This post was inspired by a post on this topic by Oberholtzer Creative.