06 July 2009
Recently Shepard Fairey released his “FREEDOM TO LEAD” poster of Aung San Suu Kyi. His work is, as always, extraordinary and charged with tones of revolution and it’s great to see him helping out another great political cause—one that needs all the publicity it can garner.
A couple years ago, the US Campaign for Burma asked me to create a logo for them to commemorate her birthday and to try to raise awareness of Suu Kyi’s situation. I don’t know to what extent it was used (beyond a shirt and some patches that are pictured below)—although I did see a picture of a wall in Thailand tiled with wheat-pasted posters of it not long after I finished it.
The brief was two-colors max and simplified and iconic enough to be reproduced at small sizes. We tried to capture both her determined strength and her soft, motherly side. There was no budget, so the type had to be created by hand, as well. Anyways, not to compare mine vs. his, but… here’s mine, and (obviously) above is his.
20 January 2009
While not everyone is 100% thrilled for this day, most people, I think, are. And a lots been said about Obama’s near-flawless campaign and his beautiful integration of great graphic design and the exceptional way that he sparked grass-roots effort by new, young voters of all walks and race across the nation, and there’s not a ton I can add to all of that. But in commemoration of this historic day, I’ll point your way to a few Obama-related stories that I found interesting.
First, going back to where it all began for me about three and a half years ago: Dreams From My Father. A couple weeks ago, Pentagram revealed its redesign of the book. It’s simple and elegant… As my copy of the book was actually a Father’s Day gift to my dad (the title had “Father” in it and the cover images were intriguing, so I bought it… I think it impacted me more than him, however), I would love to purchase this edition. Unfortunately, it’s only sold in the UK.
Obama definitely struck a chord with the artistic community in America and that was something that really excited me. Not in my recollection has there been a President that, as a nation, we could respect and look up to. And I was a little sick of all the BUSH*IT flags in dog crap and the “Design of Dissent” that flooded the market. So it was both refreshing and inspiring to see artists create positive work promoting a candidate. And this shirt above—one I just saw today—may not be the most humble, respectful, or whatever T-shirt, but it’s funny. And I like it.
And what more can be said about Gotham and the Obama brand? I’m not even going to try. Just this, though: Hoefler & Frere-Jones released new weights of Gotham today. Coincidence? I would guess “no.”
I know there’s a million more things worth commenting on today, but I’ll rest at that and with this picture of Barack Obama’s sans-typography cover on Rolling Stone that totally blew me away (the articles with words inside the magazine are great, too, if you can get your hands on one…)
Good Luck, Mr President. ~