Comments on: Obama ’08 – A Campaign with Graphic Consciousness

By: Emily Henderson

Emily Henderson — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 05:39:24 +0000

Obama's campaign ads in a video game show yet another example of this campaign's varied and tech-savvy marketing strategy.

By: Emily Henderson

Emily Henderson — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 21:45:14 +0000

My Buddy Tye K. Fussell sent me this shot from his latest visit to NYC. It's another interesting piece of DIY campaigning. The site provides downloadable artwork and simple instructions on how to wheatpaste.

By: Steven O

Steven O — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 16:05:05 +0000

The Obama camp did a great job of “branding” him over all. It made it easy for the majority of lazy people in this country to connect with him. And I don’t mean that as a slam, but it did help his recognition with out having to go in depth on each and every issue. Most people in today’s society are familiar with and are identified with the brands they use and love. Obama was able to make that lifestyle connection above all and be a rallying cry for like minded people.

By: Emily Henderson

Emily Henderson — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 20:00:56 +0000

I am surprised that it is not more universal for political campaigns to embrace the kind of leading-edge technology and design standards that Obama's team employed. True, his campaign had massive funding, but many of these techniques can be very successful with a scalable budget. Interestingly, his team seems to be extending its design/technology focus beyond the boundaries of the campaign and into its public governmental materials. It will be interesting to see how this approach evolves. Keep checking Etsy for those tissues. I'm sure it's only a matter of time.

By: pnts

pnts — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 19:17:07 +0000

I second what dirtygreek says, I love the site, colors and the layout – totally eye catching. In addition to the graphic cohesiveness of the Obama campaign, their use of technology was ridiculous. If you have an iPhone or iTouch available, check out the Obama iPhone app. It’s amazingly detailed, informative, and useful, allowing not only access to Obama’s stance on all the issues, but also has the tools for outreach – it encourages you to call people you know and get them to vote (and I *believe* each person you call through the app goes into the Obama database).

Too bad they didn’t brand any Obama tissue boxes. I was a crying mess election night.

By: dirtygreek

dirtygreek — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 17:46:22 +0000

Emily, love the site and the new blog, and I think this is a fantastic way to start it off. I was very impressed with the campaign’s visual messages as well, and while I think it would be great to know how he would have done without such an amazing advertising campaign, I’m glad it worked for him.

By: Emily Henderson

Emily Henderson — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 22:43:21 +0000

The campaign yielded a healthy blend of consistency and variety. Its appeal to talented artists and designers produced some beautifully varied and creative work. I find it compelling that the graphic consistency often extended into the complex web of commercial ecosystems that cropped up around the campaign.

By: pantspants

pantspants — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 21:20:44 +0000

Not only is there an pleasant aesthetic, they were able to maintain cosistency across all of their communication – which means consistency across vendors. And that really matters for recognition. A fellow was telling me that he was walking around town carrying his 2-year-old granddaughter and she would point to the round Obama logo and say, “Vote Obama.”

Obviously she couldn’t read, she had just seen that logo so consistently and with the verbal message reinforced by her parents, that she formed a strong association. Pretty amazing. Of course the whole thing broke down when he took her by an AT&T store, and she pointed to the AT&T logo and said, “Vote Obama.”