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Barack Obama for Graphic Designer In = Chief

3Dmojo-photo-obamaseal.jpg=20 I've written before about the=20 artwork inspired by Barack Obama's run for the presidency, as well = as his=20 own campaign's choice of fonts, and it's all good, but their latest = design=20 choices are apparently causing some controversy. While the campaign's = eschewing=20 of the candidate's name on podium placards raised eyebrows, their = current podium=20 design has even the Drudge Report giving it an alarmist link: "Obama = Changes=20 Presidential Seal," he claims. It turns out the campaign debuted a new = design=20 (right) that appears to be "inspired" by the actual presidential seal, = but with=20 some important differences, as the Associated Press reports:

Instead of the Latin 'E pluribus unum' (Out of many, one), = Obama's=20 says 'Vero possumus', rough Latin for 'Yes, we can.' Instead of 'Seal = of the=20 President of the United States', Obama's Web site address is listed. = And=20 instead of a shield, Obama's eagle wears his 'O' campaign logo with a = rising=20 sun representing hope ahead.

After the jump: the dreaded "P" word, and I don't mean "public=20 financing."

3Dmojo-photo-sonybuilding.jpg=20 Drudge types may look at this as a troubling revision of one = of our=20 country's great symbols, but from a design perspective, it's quite = lovely: the=20 blues change subtly with each concentric circle, and the eagle and = campaign logo=20 look positively 3-dimensional, like some sort of elaborate papercraft = sculpture.=20 The New York Times famously called Obama a Mac and Clinton a PC in a comparison of = the two=20 campaigns' web sites, but honestly, Obama's designs are one step beyond = Mac's=20 neo-Nordic minimalism. With the sleek sophistication of their Gotham = font=20 (originally designed for GQ magazine) offset with an almost = winking use=20 of classical filigrees and a delicate script, it's both traditional and=20 distinctly new. I hate to use the word "postmodern," but boy, doesn't = this style=20 seem like it would fit right in at the Philip Johnson-designed AT&T = Building=20 (now the Sony Building) in New York (left), which combines function and = ornament=20 in a way that foregrounds the quotations? If you want to over-analyze a = bit (and=20 why not, it's a blog!), there are a couple things from postmodernism's = Wikipedia page=20 that bear quoting:

Postmodernity is a state of being ... concerned with changes = to=20 institutions and conditions. ...[While] modernity [is a] cultural = condition=20 characterized by constant change in the pursuit of progress, = postmodernity=20 represents the culmination of this process, where constant change has = become a=20 status quo and the notion of progress, obsolete.

You can critique the design the same way a lot of people critique = Obama's=20 candidacy: it sure looks pretty, but will people really vote for it? = Plus, now=20 that I think about it, it is kind of '90s. Too bad the campaign didn't = take up=20 the most current design trend: flashing, so-bad-it's good, M.I.A.-style neo-'80s = fluorescent=20 ridiculousness. Now that would really say = "change."

Comments

If Obama's seal took on the aesthetic you're recommending, he would=20 immediately lose the epileptic vote. Before you dismiss the power of = this voting=20 bloc, you might want to have a chat with David Axelrod.

Seriously, though, I was totally unprepared for that link. Even if it = means a=20 flatter design with less old-is-new cred, I'm going to have to vote for = the=20 current version of Obama's faux presidential pomo vero possumus seal. = Although=20 the polling may not back me up on this, anecdotal accounts (3) suggest = that=20 super seizurific stylings do not result in more popular campaign = materials.=20 OUch.

Posted by: thisniss on 06/20/08=20 at 11:22 PM Respond

Possums? When did that old tart Dame Edna Everage join the Obama = campaign=20 team?

Posted by: luca on 06/21/08=20 at 1:28 AM Respond

Pompous would be the word for this shield. But then, as Obama is=20 appropriating the Declaration of Independence to get money from his = supporters,=20 I guess this sort of arrogance is to be expected.

Posted by: Rickvid in Seattle on 06/22/08=20 at 1:05 PM Respond

Gotham is the new Helvetica :P

Posted by: Guy Incognito on 06/23/08=20 at 9:03 AM Respond

hmmm...let the corination begin,...maybe the super delegates told him = the=20 country is not going to count the other 48 states either, are we going = to hear=20 demands that mccain drop out?

Posted by: ricko on 06/23/08=20 at 11:13 AM Respond

Does anyone bother to monitor this site? The ads are so large, = AT&T ad=20 here, it covers up half the article and there's no way to close it. I've = seen=20 this here many times and on other sites too. I'll find this story = somewhere=20 else.

Posted by: Laura Nason on 06/23/08=20 at 11:25 AM Respond

thanks for that tid bit laura?????????

Posted by: ricko on 06/23/08=20 at 11:42 AM Respond

He should also replace the arrows in the eagle's left claw to olive = branches.=20 So the eagle would represent peace fully, not "peace and war" at the = same=20 time.

Posted by: jamie on 06/23/08=20 at 1:21 PM Respond

Probably should replace the Eagle also, isn't it a predatory bird? It = looks=20 silly "spread eagle" with the Obama circle in the middle of it. But I = think the=20 idea of changing the logo and the "branding" of this corporation we call = America=20 is good business. Obama represents the new improved America!

Posted by: Amy on 06/23/08=20 at 8:27 PM Respond

talk about a dictator...vote for McCain

Posted by: abby on 06/26/08=20 at 11:22 AM Respond

what are you liberals insane! America is only worse with you in it. = If you=20 have a problem with America and its original president logo then get the = heck=20 out of here...go to canada with the other hippies and sit around a = campfire...or=20 better yet go to iraq and see what its really like...maybe then you'll=20 appreciate America and what freedom it has to offer. Maybe you(liberals) = should=20 morally check where your at and change...isnt that what Obama=20 wants...change?

Posted by: dan on 06/26/08=20 at 11:28 AM Respond

Vero Possumus doesn=92t mean what Obama says it means. To replace = this motto=20 and to give him a new name, I would substitute the Latin phrase =93Veto = Possumus=94,=20 which means Veto the Possum. I would suggest The Possum as his new = nickname. He=20 has a grin resembling that of a Possum eating excrement. These young = androids=20 who are going to vote for him so that he can =93change=94 things are = going to have a=20 rude awakening, similar to those who followed Hitler, and later found = out that=20 Germany suffered as a result.
Veto the Possum, or Veto Barack=20 Oppossum!

Posted by: tom cooper on 07/07/08=20 at 9:18 AM Respond

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