By now, we all know that the 2008 Obama Presidential campaign was a great leap forward for the aesthetics of US election campaign, so it should come as no surprise that the director of the Obama campaign, Scott Thomas, decided to publish a book about the innovative Obama design brand and its impact on American pop and design cultures. The resulting book, titled Designing Obama: A Chronicle of Art & Design from the 2008 Presidential Campaign, is an attractive product that includes a short foreward by Pentagram partner Michael Bierut and an introduction by graphic design guru Steven Heller, who cleverly calls the brand “O Design.”
graphic design
Posted inArt
The Timeless Beauty of Ugly
Lost and hungry is not a good combination. Imagine driving in an unfamiliar place, stomach growling … many miles ago you’ve dropped all your pretenses about needing to eat all-organic food … the urgency of hunger is upon you … suddenly you see it, a huge billboard with the words: MCDONALD’S NEXT EXIT. At that moment, you’re probably not thinking about the fact that it’s typeset in Arial, has no consideration for negative space, lacks attractive colors or that it’s just not a very nice-looking billboard. No, all you see, blazing from atop the trees and urban wasteland, is a glorious sign from God telling you all you need to know at that very moment.
Posted inNews
Graphic Design Insanity Over Nuclear Summit Logo
In what can only be described as a case of visual illiteracy, Christopher Knight of the Los Angeles Times is dissecting the claim by some people on the wacky right that the logo of the recent Nuclear Security Summit in Washington, DC, is coded with Islamic imagery. No, you didn’t read that wrong.
Posted inOpinion
MoMA Acquires “@” But What Did They Get?
The Museum of Modern Art’s design department has been making some very unorthodox — though welcome — acquisitions in the last few years, including most recently the “@.” These are contributing to a greater sense that museums are no longer only object-based institutions, and that’s a good thing.
Posted inNews
Oldest Graphic Design Found, Islamic in Detroit, Mexican in LA
… P.S.1’s Brooklyn is Burning event gets out of control last weekend … #class gets invited to Pulse … a HUGE statue of Amenhotep III is discovered in Luxor, Egypt … Milan Fashion Week includes protestors peeved at Anna Wintour’s quick ditch.
