Posted by
Jason Urban on March 14th, 2010 |
Andrew Romero shares some fascinating news over at his Newsweek blog…
How Master Information Designer Edward Tufte Can Help Obama Govern recaps the Obama administration’s decision to add Edward Tufte to the independent panel that advises the Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board. For any unfamiliar with his work, the phrase “Master Information Designer” is perhaps an understatement when reflecting on Tufte’s impact on the discipline of information design.
It’s not surprising that a President whose election campaign was in part fueled by the power of graphics would see the potential benefits in going to a professional to help in explaining the recovery plan. Tufte seems like perfect person for the job…
“This is about visual thinking and visual evidence,” Tufte says. “It’s not about commercial art. The last thing in the world that’s needed here is a designer. What’s needed is an analytical, statistical, quantitative approach. Reporting is different from pitching. Artists who design for marketing purposes inherently have problems with credibility. This is something very different in spirit. It’s about accountability and transparency—with heavy, heavy amounts of data.”
Okay, so it’s not as flashy as Fairey’s iconic image but it’s probably a lot more useful… and overall good news for any of us in the business of visual culture.
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Posted by
Jason Urban on January 20th, 2009 |
Spreading the Hope: Terry Gross will be interviewing Shepard Fairey today on Fresh Air from WHYY in Philadelphia. Their site says:
The iconic poster differed from Fairey’s previous work. The image was unusual, Fairey says, because his political art is usually negative.
“I felt that Barack Obama was an unusual candidate, a special candidate, and that it was worth putting my efforts into making something positive,” he told NPR in a Jan. 2009 interview.
Now Fairey is spreading the message of hope again, this time as the official designer of the Obama inauguration poster.
UPDATE: Note that Fairey corrects T.G.- “Get with the times, Terry.”
UPDATE: Did Terry just use the term “shout out”?
UPDATE: Terry strikes back about 17 minutes into the interview. She’s quick to correct Fairey that he isn’t as much an outsider as he would like people to believe. Funny.
Posted by
RL Tillman on January 16th, 2009 |
OK, I’m sick of it too. Obamagraphics fever just won’t die! But Shepard Fairey’s appearance on The Colbert Report may be the shark-jumping moment we’ve hoped for. I thought the interview was pretty dull, perhaps because Colbert seems to be a real fan of Fairey’s work. If you, on the other hand, are just plain tired of the guy, maybe you should take another look at this classic unhinged diatribe about how Fairey is a “second-rate, infantile plagiarist.” Let it all out!
Returning to Colbert, I was far more interested in this segment on Obama Collectibles. Stephen’s guest “P.K. Winsome” presents a range of historic products, including a commemorative energy drink, the Yes We Can of Energy Drink. I think I saw that in my local Rite-Aid!
Posted by
Jason Urban on November 4th, 2008 |
Compiled by Rene Wanner’s Poster Page, one hundred and fifty variations on the Shepard Fairey Obama/Hope poster. Easily the most comprehensive list online.
Here’s one they missed at Expresso Beans...
Thanks for the tip, RL.
Posted by
RL Tillman on November 1st, 2008 |
Still The Champ
Some Whippersnapper
The LA Times has an interesting article about Self Help Graphics, profiling the struggling but resilient community arts organization as it prepares for its traditional Day of the Dead event. Self Help’s other recent endeavors include a collaboration with Farmlab on a political print show, Chora Prints 2008.
Posted by
Jason Urban on May 21st, 2008 |
Here’s a link a Washington Post story that provides a good summary.
Variations keep coming in… positive… and negative.
Continue reading “I Got a Crush… on Obama’s Poster” Part III
Posted by
Jason Urban on May 14th, 2008 |
Robert’s comments on the first Obama post peaked my curiosity and once I started looking around, I was amazed to find so many variants and parodies on the Obey political poster.
Obeythepurebreed features a ridiculous quantity of pet-related merch in the style of Fairey’s Obey campaign. Also on the site are somewhat cheap-looking Barack Obama and Ron Paul posters. As far as I can tell, these are offsets (as opposed to screenprints) so I don’t think would have the same physical impact. They don’t really have the same resonance as images either.
Continue reading “I Got a Crush… on Obama’s Poster” Part II
Posted by
Jason Urban on May 11th, 2008 |
Okay, so Shepard Fairey is the last artist to need more exposure and these Obama silkscreen posters have already made the blog rounds but I think they justify a post on Printeresting. Fairey’s Obama Progress poster (36″x 24″) was produced in an edition of 350 and sold out from his website before being released back in January. The Hope version of the poster (pictured above) was delivered directly to the Obama campaign for distribution. Fairey’s website has posted a thank you letter from Barack himself (one that seems to condone putting stickers on stop signs- could this be the next non-issue in the battle for the presidency?).
More recently, the poster has led to a sticker campaign (a la Obey). On April 10th the Obama website announced the release of the Hope stickers available for purchase through Stickerobot. Gee, I can’t imagine why Obama is getting the youth vote.
On a less topical note, it’s interesting to me that Shepard Fairey who is so famous as a guerilla street artist may be the closest thing we have to a mainstream printmaker.
